


Fairehorn Academy of Magical Arts

by Loestri



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Original Work
Genre: Blood Fetish, Gen, M/M, Magic, Rough Sex, Tragic backstories are fun, loosely based on Harry Potter universe, sinning, what have we done
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-06-08 13:47:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 83,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6857488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loestri/pseuds/Loestri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story of two boys school days in a magical academy. Featuring parents, magic, dark lords, side ponytail mums, mayhem and feelings.</p><p> </p><p>Our own spin on the Harry Potter universe with original characters and some changes.<br/>Written with a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Fairehorn Academy

**Author's Note:**

> Original work by me and a friend where each control a character, we hope to make this ridiculously long.

"Come here, my servant," the deeply masculine voice echoed around the empty room. "I have new orders for you."  
"Yes, my lord," The servant replied, kneeling down in front of the master with a hand over his chest. "As usual, I shall carry them out with haste, and shall not hesitate in obeying your orders."  
"I have an item that I intend to be placed in a spot that can only be accessed by you. You will plant the item, without letting anyone else know what you're up to, and make it out. I need you to be sly, quiet and inconspicuous. But of course, you will have no problem in doing so." The servant sensed a mild threat in those orders. He had never been caught before, and he was certain that it wouldn't happen any time in the future.  
"Yes, my lord."

__________

 

Liam Caynet was a young boy who was to be eleven tomorrow. He was an only child who lived with his mother at number 27 Halen road. His mother was a kind woman named Heather, she had thick hair that reached her shoulders and silver eyes, time had dulled her features but Liam still thought she was beautiful despite this. They were not a rich family, they didn't have much, but they were of the belief that they didn't need much as long as they had each other. This morning Liam was sat around the table with his mother for a meagre breakfast, they were discussing the topic of his upcoming birthday. Three of his close friends had been invited to sleepover at his house for movies and pizza, his birthday was one of the few days of the year he was allowed a treat such as this and he always looked forward to it greatly.

__________

"You might as well start packing. I mean, it's not like you have anything else to do. And anyway, Matty will nag me about not telling you to if I don't. I really don't want to get an earful tonight." Abbie, Ronnie's father, sighed while rubbing his temples.  
"But Dad, we've still got a week before school. More than a week."  
"Yes, by one day. I need to start planning my lessons anyway."  
Ronnie rolled his eyes. "I can't believe I'm probably going to have you for lessons. It'll be so awkward. And all the other students will notice. I mean, d'autrice isn't a common surname."  
"Oh, shut it," Abbie teased, as he put down his book and drained the last of his coffee. "You'll love it. And a lot of my lessons are practicals, so there's not much writing."  
Matty, Ronnie's second father, opened the door and fell on the couch next to Abbie. He sighed and stretched, loosening his tie a little.  
"Nice night at work?" Abbie asked.  
"Not at all." Groaned Matty, turning around on the couch and cuddling up on Abbie's legs.  
Abbie grinned, then looked at Ronnie. "Apparently, I'm a strict teacher. I like to think so. Helps in the bedroom." He winked. Matty turned a deep shade of red, as dark as his hair, and shoved Abbie.  
"Abbie! You idiot. Not in front of Ronnie!"  
Abbie chuckled. "Whatever. It's not like he gets it anyway, right, Ronnie?"  
"Uh... No, Dad... Not at all." 

__________

"So, what movie are we watching?" Asked Richard, Liam's friend from school.  
"How about..... Percy Jackson?" Proposed Callum, his other friend.  
"Percy Jackson? Ugh no way, it was terrible!" Liam replied  
"Just because you think the books are better!" That was Richard  
"The books are better! The movies were horrible, and wrong, so wrong!" Liam has a love for books and no book to movie conversions bother him more than that of the Percy Jackson series.  
"Fine, well how about a...... Horror?" Callum seemed quite annoyed with Liam's opinions on movies   
"Hmm, sure which one?" If there was one type of movie Liam couldn't complain about it was horrors  
"How about woman in black?" Liam hadn't seen it yet, and some of their friends from school had said it was good. The agreement was unanimous and not long after they were all settled into the sofa with a bowl of recently popped popcorn and a mound of blankets, the opening credits playing.

___________

 

"It's Ronnie's first year at Fairehorn soon." Abbie mused as he pulled back the covers to his and Matty's shared bed.  
"Yeah. I'm sure he'll love it." Matty assured his partner as he slid into bed and opened his arms wide for Abbie. Abbie got into bed and wrapped Matty's petit body around his own, feeling his heat pressed up against his icy body.  
"You're really cold." Matty whispered, gripping Abbie tighter, and burying his head into his shoulder.  
Abbie didn't reply for a moment, and just breathed in Matty's scent. "This reminds me of when Ronnie was younger."   
Matty smiled softly, even though Abbie couldn't see it. "Yeah. When he was little and he'd creep in during the night and sleep with us. He'd always moan about you being really cold, so he tended to sleep near me more."  
Abbie nodded silently, reminiscing.  
"Stop worrying." Matty said suddenly.  
"What?"  
"I've known you for years, Abbie, so I know when you're anxious. He'll be fine, you just need to trust him."  
"I know."

__________

It was nearing 12, Liam, Richard and Callum were aware of this and were checking the clock every few minutes, waiting to see in the start of Liam's birthday. The movie was still going and they had jumped many times in shock. As the clock struck 12 the film reached a particularly silent part. With baited breath the children sat, eyes fixed on the screen waiting for the next part to scare them when the sound of something large hitting the window shattered the tension. All three practically jumped out of their skin with fright as whatever it was crashed into the window. Slowly Liam stood up from the sofa, apprehensively making his way to the window. What he saw shocked him with the sheer oddness of what it was, outside was an owl, an owl holding a letter with his name on it. Liam opened the window with shaking hands , his friends were wearing identical looks that said he was an idiot for opening the window to whatever was out there. Once the window was opened the large snowy owl flew in landing on the coffee table, looking extremely proud of its self to have delivered its package. Although still rather shocked by everything that had happened Liam approached the bird to retrieve the letter. The letter was of old yellow parchment, the envelope had Liam's name written in fancy handwriting with green ink, he had the fleeting thought they it may have been written with a quill. The contents had the same old yellow parchment and green ink, it read: 

It is our greatest pleasure to announce that Liam Caynet has been accepted into Fairehorn Academy of Magical Arts in Scotland. He will be expected on the Fairehorn express on the 1st of September to start the school year with full equipment and uniform which can be purchased from Diagon Alley, the entrance to which can be found behind The Rusty Goblet pub in muggle London. Train tickets can be found in the envelope with this letter.

Robes can be purchased from Monsieur Menson's wizarding robes, first year's robes are free but you will be expected to pay for them in future years 

Students will be expected to have the following books for the school year: 

Practicing potions for beginners by Pallen Prancer  
Defence and duelling by Anor Alcien  
Magical History: the witch trials by Halden Heden   
Learning Latin for simple spellwork by Wanda Wrennington

We very much hope to see you for this year at Fairehorn   
Sincerely, Headmistress Grinfall

 

__________

 

Abbie poured the boiling hot water into a white mug and stirred, yawning. Matty shuffled into the room, rubbing his eyes.  
"Morning, beautiful." Abbie smiled, wrapping his arms around the smaller male. Matty hummed a response, pushing his face into Abbie's shoulder.  
"We'll need to go out today, to get Ronnie's school stuff. I have some money for it."  
Matty nodded. "We can use my wages as well, to treat him to something special. I don't have work today either, so I'm not busy at all."  
Abbie brushed his lips against Matty's, humming. "Not busy at all, huh?"  
Matty blushed and turned away, picking up the coffee Abbie had made for himself and downing it. Abbie stared at him, and soon his look turned into a glare.  
"That was my coffee."  
Matty shrugged, smiling. "You didn't make me any tea."  
"I wasn't expecting you to get up this early on your day off."  
"Oh, shut up."  
The pair got into a mild argument about stealing each other's things, which of course led to some innuendos from Abbie and blushing from Matty. Just as the argument was reaching its high, Ronnie walked in.  
"Morning." He yawned.  
"Morning, Ronnie! We're going out later to get your school stuff, unless you're busy, but today's my only day off for a while so if you go on another day only Abbie will be able to take you."  
"Yeah, okay. I've not got anything planned today, so today's fine," Ronnie paused, then looked at Abbie. "What's up Dad?"  
"Matty drank my coffee." He said, giving Matty dead eyes.  
"Stop sulking, you baby." Matty joked.  
"Oh, come on Dad. It's not worth arguing about."  
"Ronnie's right. And besides," Matty said, his voice turning serious as he sat down at the table to eat breakfast. "If you slept at night, you wouldn't need to drink coffee to stay awake."  
Abbie rolled his eyes, turning back towards the kettle to make another coffee. "Well I had to get up early to start planning my lessons. I'll be teaching first years, and most of them barely even know how to control their natural magic."  
"Well, no one is as perfect as you, Your Highness." Matty said sarcastically, turning the page of the newspaper he was reading.  
Abbie let out an irritated sigh, and flicked a small bolt of pure black darkness at Matty, who just swatted it away with a blast of red fire.  
"You're such a pain in the ass, Abbie." Matty muttered as he glared at his partner, who winked suggestively back at him.  
"Dads, pack it in. I'm trying to eat here."

___________

 

"Mum, do you know what this is?" Liam was barely awake yet but he needed to find out what his mum new about...... Everything the letter from last night described. He placed it in front of her and watched her pale as she read the letter.  
"Liam, we need to have a talk about your father." She looked determined and worried but most of all sorry this talk had to happen on his birthday  
"What does my father have to do with this?"  
"There are somethings that I haven't told you about him, things he didn't even tell me, though I believe if he had been able to he would have before he.... Well you know. Your father, he wasn't entirely normal, I noticed things, like a lack of knowledge about common things which he tried to cover up but no matter how he tried it was clear simple things would occasionally just confuse him. And when he felt overwhelming emotion strange things would happen, for example when he was angry everything felt unusually heavy and when he was incredibly happy, like when he heard I was pregnant with you, it felt like I could start floating at any moment. I believe, though I'm not entirely sure, that he had the power to control the strength of gravity. He had magic, Liam, and you do too. I wasn't sure at first but that letter confirms it."  
Although Liam felt he should probably be surprised by all this he only felt a feeling of understanding, knowing this suddenly made everything seem a lot clearer, magic explained things that couldn't be understood before   
"So this letter is inviting me to study.... Magic. At a school for magic, with other people who also have magic" saying it felt strange but made it so much more real  
"Yes, and if you want to go I'm not going to stop you, we could even go and get supplies today." The idea of leaving everything he knew was worrying however Liam knew this was a chance in a lifetime, and magic was something he'd always dreamed of, like something out of all the books he'd read.  
"I want to go, could we get the stuff after Richard and Callum have left?"

 

___________

 

"Ronnie, are you ready yet?" Abbie called from the front door.  
"Um... Yeah, I'm just looking for my money." Ronnie called back.  
"Don't worry about that, we've got it covered." Matty said, opening the front door. Ronnie ran down the stairs in excitement. He couldn't wait to get all his things for Fairehorn and go to the academy itself. Both his fathers had gone to magic school, and most of the experiences were positive ones. It would be great to get out of his house and away from his fathers too, but as Abbie worked at the school Ronnie is going to, it will be close to impossible to avoid him.  
Ronnie walked out of the door and down the path. Abbie was waiting in his shiny red car. Matty locked the front door and hopped into the seat next to Abbie, who smiled at him and grabbed his hand.  
Ronnie wondered if he'd ever find anyone to share his life with like Matty and Abbie. They'd known each other ever since they'd been born. Or close enough, as Matty was two years younger than Abbie, but they had had to be separated when Abbie's mother had divorced his father. Abbie had a twin brother, and when their parents split up, the twin went with his father and Abbie with his mother.   
Later, when they were sixteen and fourteen, they'd met again in purely coincidental conditions, and had practically been together since then.  
When Abbie started the engine of his car, Ronnie jumped. Matty laughed at him, and they set off.

__________

The Rusty Goblet was a small rundown pub in London which would have been easily missed had they not been looking for it. The patrons of the pub were a strange bunch and to Liam it made sense that they were people with magic, based on their style of clothes and general outlandish behaviour. Heather, Liam's mum, went up to the man at the bar and asked for directions to Diagon Alley. He readily gave them and they found themselves at the end of a long line incredible shops selling strange things. To there left was a shop filled with animals of all sizes, shapes, colours and species, some which Liam had never encountered before and was sure were magical. The streets were busy with many witches and wizards some appeared to be caught in duels others simply exchanging spells and merchandise. Close by they saw the sign for Monsieur Menson's wizarding robes and made their way there first. Inside the clothing shop was very busy with young people ranging from Liam's age around 18, today was obviously when everybody had decided it best to come school shopping. Liam and his mum made their way to the back of the shop where first years were being fitted for their robes. After a small wait filled with talk of their observations of this new magical world Liam was stood on a elevated circle with a young witch with bright ginger hair who appeared to be in her early twenties fitting him for robes. They young witch was quick and efficient in her work, in no time at all Liam was out of the shop with a bag full of robes. Outside of the shop Liam noticed a duel going between a wizard controlling ice and another controlling fire, curious he went to join the small crowd that was gradually growing to watch.

____________

 

Ronnie checked his list to see if he had missed anything he needed for Fairehorn. They were outside a prank shop, near the store where they sold robes. Abbie looked over to the centre of the shops that stood in a small circle like shape, where a group of people were forming. Ronnie, Matty and Abbie walked over to them and stood on the edge of the crowd. Abbie, being over six feet, could easily see of the crowd as most of them were young students. In the centre of the group were two wizards beginning to duel.  
"That's wrong. He's got the wrong stance. If any magic comes flying his way, he'll be knocked off balance, fall, and make himself look like a fool."  
"Heh. Here comes the duelling teacher and his endless knowledge of offensive magic and attacking other wizards." Matty muttered.  
"No, not like that. Turn to the left a bit more.... The other wizard has it right. What are you doing? You won't be able to get a clear shot if you stand like that... No, stop. Yeah, you deserve that hit. And that one. No wonder you're losing-your technique is all wrong."  
Apparently, the wizard who Abbie had been criticising has heard all this, mainly because the crowd was quiet in anticipation, and turned towards him.  
"Well, I'd love to see you do better then, Mister Perfect. If you can beat us two, perhaps I'll believe you." He sneered.  
"I'd be honoured to." Abbie said, flashing a smile and making his way to the middle of the crowd. When he got there, he placed his legs in a certain position and watched his opponents carefully.  
"Oh for the love of God, Dad, pack it in." Ronnie mutters.  
When the fire wizard was about to attack, Abbie flicked his left wrist and a thin spear-like shape made of pure darkness shot towards them. It knocked them off balance and they fell to the floor. Abbie turned his eyes back to the ice wizard. "Come on then," he taunted. "Beat me."  
"Dad, Dad, Dad, stop. Pack it in you idiot." Ronnie said, but Matty's eyes were fixed firmly on Abbie.

_________ 

Liam heard the comments from the wizard just behind him and was very impressed when he agreed to go up against both of them at once. He didn't really believe this man could do it, he clearly new what he was doing but both the other wizards seemed quite powerful and two against one simply didn't seem possible to win against them. However he proved all the doubters wrong when with just one hit he took them both down. The wizard seemed very smug, but Liam's attention was no longer on him it was on the boy who was the same age as him behind him, the boy seemed to be the man's son and he was clearly very embarrassed by his fathers antics. Which Liam supposed he had every right to be considering what a spectacle his father was making of himself. Liam looked over his shoulder and said to the brunette boy  
"Stay strong, it will all be over soon" he gave an encouraging smile and turned back to see if the boy's father would do anything else interesting.

 

___________

 

Ronnie laughed nervously. "I'm not so sure about that. Once he gets started... Well, I just hope he finishes soon."  
Abbie rolled his eyes and walked up to the ice wizard lying on the floor. "Now tell me again what would happen if I beat you both."  
The ice wizard glared at him and sat up. "Make me."  
Abbie smirked. "You know, dark magic isn't the only magic I can do. I can do a lot more than throw a few puny spells around willy-nilly. And," Abbie pressed his foot against the wizard's chest and slammed him back down on the ground. He leaned in to whisper into the man's ear. "If you want me to make you tell me, I can do that, too." Abbie pulled a knife out of his pocket and pressed it up against his throat.  
"U-um... I... I said that..."  
"Oh, come on, you're making this far too easy for it to be fun." Abbie placed the knife back in his pocket and stood up.  
"I said that I'd love to see you do better." The ice wizard said. Abbie rolled his eyes and walked towards Ronnie and Matty.  
"For gods sake, Abbie." Matty murmurs.  
"Dad, you're so embarrassing. Why'd you have to do that in front of everyone?" Ronnie moaned before Abbie reached him.

________

He hadn't expected how cruel the man would be able to act and was shocked when he pulled out the knife (was that even allowed in duels?). The way his emotions flipped was jarring to say the least and Liam found himself leaning away from the man when he walked back to his son, Abbie the man had called him. Abbie had talked of being able to use multiple magics, how was this possible, Liam supposed he'd probably learn at Fairehorn but would have to contend with being curious until then. And when he said dark magic, does that mean he's a dark wizard? Wouldn't that make him evil, in a way, clearly there was much Liam had to learn and he was incredibly eager to do so. Turning around again he raised a questioning eyebrow at the boy, asking silently on his fathers behaviour and hoping he got the message.

__________

Ronnie shrugged. "You'll learn all about. I don't know much about it myself, but dark magic is my dad's natural magic, just like fire is my other dad's, Matty," he points at Matty, who is watching Abbie intensely. "But I'm pretty sure that you can learn magic, like... Sub-magic. So you'll have your natural magic, which tends to be stronger than the rest you learn, unless you train at that as well. We'll learn about it in school. Uh... And I'm sorry about my dad. He's... Well.... He's not normal, I guess. He's an idiot," Ronnie rolls his eyes. "Sorry. Um. What school are you going to?"

_________

That look clearly conveyed even more than he thought it had, but the extra information was certainly helpful, Liam hadn't even heard about the possibility of sub-magic until this boy mentioned it, who even is this boy? He had yet to mention his name, and Liam hadn't either. It suddenly dawned on Liam that he was talking to a complete stranger, he never does this, if Liam had a list of things he doesn't do and avoids at all costs, talking to strangers would be number one, along with dying a strange and mysterious death. He could feel his face slowly heating as embarrassment set in. Liam gave a stuttering reply to the others question  
"Fairehorns, y-you?" 

____________

 

Ronnie's face lit up. "Same! I hadn't imagined I'd see someone that's going to the same school as me. Oh!" Ronnie gasped, suddenly realising he hadn't introduced himself. "I'm Ronnie d'autrice, and I'll be going into my first year of Fairehorn next week. I assumed you're the same, because you're so small." Ronnie joked.  
Abbie and Matty had been having a quiet argument that was getting closer and closer to becoming a shouting match, so Abbie turned around and stalked off. Matty let out and annoyed sigh and faced Ronnie.  
"Oh, hello. Are you a friend of Ronnie?"  
"Um... What is your name?" Ronnie asked.

_________

"Uh I'm Liam, nice to meet you" Liam smiled awkwardly, the sudden awareness of their status as stranger had crippled any social grace he may have had, and he was thinking of escape routes that wouldn't appear completely rude but was coming up blank. It was nice to think though that he might at least recognise somebody when he went to Fairehorn, he wasn't entirely sure he knew how to make friends, but if this goes well there may be at least one person he'll be able to talk to that doesn't reside in his books.

________

Matty smiled back. "Nice to meet you too," he turns to Ronnie. "I'm sorry, but we need to get your stuff for school, just like Liam here, I assume, so we need to go, because I'm at work early tomorrow. Maybe we'll even see Abbie while we're at it." He adds, slightly angry.  
"Okay, Dad. I'll see you at school, then, Liam? It was nice to meet you!" Ronnie grinned at him, then followed Matty to the wizarding robes store. He turned back and waved just before he entered the shop.  
Wow, I might have just made my first friend at Fairehorn!

_________

"See you!" That went surprisingly well in Liam's opinion. His mum, who he had appeared to have lost without knowing appears next to him  
"Made some new friends sweetheart?" She asked, smiling sweetly  
"possibly! He seemed nice but we didn't get much of a chance to talk, where are we going next?"  
"The book shop, it's just down here I saw it when I was looking for you" they made their way down to the shop filled with books, Liam felt like he'd died and gone to heaven surrounded so many incredible books. They got what they needed from a disgruntled looking owner then made their way through the other shops to get cauldrons, and potion ingredients and finally a wand. The wand shop was stacked ceiling high with boxes of unique wands, the shop owner was an old man with white hair and gold wiry glasses, he took one look up and down Liam then hobbled off to fine a suitable wand. He tried a few wands with various degrees of success before finally settling for a birch wand with a unicorn tail hair core.

______________

It was just after they had purchased Ronnie's robes that Matty decided to call Abbie. After all, they would have to walk it home unless he came back. At least,that was Matty's reasoning. He pulled out his phone and after failing to get hold of his partner, he just sighed and switched his phone off.  
"Come on, Ronnie," Matty said, smiling gently. "Let's eat out tonight."  
That night, Ronnie was curled up on his bed, listening to his parents scream at each other. He felt uneasy. Sure, his parents had argued in the past, but never as bad as this.  
Abbie had returned home an hour ago, and as soon as Matty had seen Abbie, the screaming match had started. A couple of plates or something had been smashed on the floor sometime during the fight.  
The things they were yelling at each other about now weren't even remotely related to Abbie joining that duel anymore, but the subject of Ronnie and his mother. Ronnie crept to the door and opened it slightly, so he could hear what they were saying.  
"Yeah, I know I messed up, and so do you! But Ronnie is something I do not regret!" That was Abbie.  
"I'm not saying you should, but it's just another example of you just walking away and leaving the problem to solve itself!" Matty yelled back.  
"Well, right now, you're my problem! So why don't you just shut the hell up and-"  
"There you go again! Just leaving the conversation here is just running away from your problems again! Now, believe me when I say I have no idea what you went through as a kid, and you don't know about my childhood either, but at least I face my troubles instead of cowering away from them!"  
"What do our childhoods have to do with this conversation? You know what? Forget it," Abbie shouted. "I can't be bothered to talk to you anymore."  
"Why? What did I do wrong? I didn't cheat on you, I didn't start a duel in the middle of Diagon Ally, and I definitely didn't run away after it! Screw you, Abbie. I'm sleeping at a friend's tonight. I have work tomorrow," Matty's voice sounded like he was close to tears. "I'll see you later."  
"Oh, so I'm the one who always runs away from my problems?" There was a door slam, and then everything was quiet for a moment.  
And then Ronnie heard crying.

__________

The week passed quickly for Liam, he spent most of it reading his school books, learning as much as he could about magic before he left. His mum seemed to be spoiling him as much as she could, she would by him nice food (which Liam noticed was putting a strain on what little money she had) and would insist on spending time together. Knowing his mum would miss him terribly while he was gone Liam did all this to appease, and simply because he knew he'd miss her too, of everyone he knew he was closest with his mum, he'd always struggled making friends but it didn't matter to him because he knew he had her. The morning of September 1st found them at Kings cross station looking for platform 9 and 3/4, rolling a trolley with Liam's trunk on it. His trunk was filled predominantly with books, a small area was put aside for his robes, some old jeans, t-shirts and oversized Jumpers whose sleeves reach past his fingers.

___________

"Ronnie, we're going to be late!" Abbie called from the front door. Matty had already gone to work, but not after telling Ronnie to have a good time.  
Abbie and Matty were not on speaking terms. They just ignored each other's existence, which, in Ronnie's opinion, wasn't going to help matters. Because Abbie worked at Fairehorn, which was a boarding school, they wouldn't be seeing each other again until the first holiday.  
"Ronnie!" Abbie shouted one last time. Ronnie grabbed his rucksack- Abbie had put both their suitcases in the taxi already - and ran down the stairs.  
Abbie put his car keys on the side for Matty and opened the door. Ronnie went and sat in the taxi while Abbie locked the door. Then they were on their way.

___________

They were having trouble finding where to go, because of course for most people platform 9 and 3/4 doesn't exist, so it would be impossible to ask for directions unless they could find a fellow wizard. They had been wondering around for far too long looking for it and were starting they were going to be late. It was at the moment that Liam's panic reached its peak when he noticed Ronnie, and his father Abbie. He looked smart in a button up shirt and jeans, making Liam feel he was underdressed in just a large jumper and jeans. His dark brown hair seemed to be styled perfectly compared to the mess that Liam's hazel locks always found themselves in no matter how much he tried to flatten them. Mustering whatever little amount of confidence he had he shouted to Ronnie to get his attention, a light blush covering his cheeks when a number of people also turned to stare at him for shouting.

_______________

Ronnie heard someone calling his name, so he scanned the area for someone familiar and his eyes landed on Liam. Ronnie walked over to Liam, smiling. "Hey, Liam! What's up? I bet you're having trouble getting to the platform, aren't you? Don't worry, Dad knows how to get to it."  
Abbie nodded at Liam vaguely, seemingly preoccupied by his thoughts. But then he snapped back to attention.  
"All you've got to do is walk at that wall over there." He said, letting go of one suitcase to point and a brick wall.  
Ronnie turned and grinned at Liam. "This is going to be great. Uh, could you go first please, Dad? I promise I'll follow straight after."  
"Okay. And remember, don't stop running till you get out the other side." Abbie looked at Liam, then Ronnie. He turned around and started walking towards the wall at a quick pace.

_____________

 

Walking straight into a wall doesn't seem like the best idea, but as Liam watches Abbie go right through the wall with no trouble he decides that it must be tried.  
"Oh dear, honey I'm going to be late for work if I don't leave now, have a wonderful time okay? And I'll see you at Christmas right?" She hugged him tight, tears in her eyes.  
"I will don't worry, I'll definitely be home for Christmas, now go, don't be late for work because of me" they exchanged one last tight hug before his mum went.  
"So, after you?" Ronnie looked like he was about to burst from the excitement he held within him and Liam thought it best to let him go first, lest he explode from it all.

______________

"Okay!" Ronnie said eagerly. He adjusted the rucksack on his back and took a deep breath, then turned and ran towards the wall, his eyes squeezed shut. He got through the wall with no trouble at all, and found Abbie waiting on the other side, a deep scowl on his face.  
"Um... Dad, are you okay?"  
When Abbie saw him, his scowl slid off his face and a small smile replaced it. "Yeah. I see you got through alright. Let's wait for your friend before we get on the train."

_______________

Quickly Liam followed Ronnie through the wall, eyes squeezed shut, expecting, despite what he'd seen the others do, to simply crash into the wall. When he passed through the wall he opened his eyes in wonder. On the tracks was an old dark green steam train, milling around the platform were wizards and witches in all styles of robes and the train was filling with students of every age. Still looking around trying to take everything in Liam walked up to Ronnie and Abbie, when he was next to them he tried to reign in the look of childish wonder, with how much success he didn't know.

_______________

Abbie looked at Liam. "You made it through across okay? Okay, you have to go through those doors there and find a seat for you both. I'll take your suitcases. I'll see you around, Liam, and I know I'll see you later, Ronnie. Bye, and have fun." Abbie said, and took the suitcases, taking them over to where they were loading them on the train.  
Ronnie took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's go." He walked towards the doors his father had pointed to.

_________

Liam followed Ronnie quietly, picking at the threads in his sleeves whilst they looked for seats. Eventually they found a empty compartment for them both and sat themselves down across from each other. The silence dragged on for an awkward moment, Liam tried to think of something of something to say before settling on simply saying  
"Thank you for helping us find the platform, I don't think we would've managed it without you"

_____________

Ronnie smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'm kinda glad we were late now, anyway." He looked out of the window and stretched in an attempt to get comfy. An awkward look passed across his face briefly. "Um... You don't have to answer this, but.... Uh.... Are your parents together? I mean, I only saw your mum but..."

_____________

"My dad died before I was born, it's just me and my mum, why?" Liam tried to act calm about it, but his dad's death always made him sad, no matter how long ago it was, because it still effected his mum like it was only a week ago not eleven years. 

_____________

"Oh, I didn't know. That must be awful. It's just that... Well... You know last week when Dad got into that duel? Uh... Well, since then, both my dads have been arguing. The night of the duel, they were having a screaming match, then my dad Matty just left and didn't come back until last night, to wish me good luck. And we're not going to see him again until the holidays... I just... I wondered if you had any advice or anything thing."

_____________

Well this was not where Liam saw this conversation going, how does he even give advice on family matters?   
"Well, I don't really know how to give advice on this sort of stuff but if I had to say anything, it'd be that things don't just end when they separate if you're close with both of them it will be fine. It's nice when they're together but sometimes it's better if their happy apart rather than unhappy together"

___________

Ronnie nodded sadly. "But they're usually happy together...," Ronnie perked up suddenly and laughed. "I've got some chocolate, if you want some. Dad gave it me before he left for work."  
He pulled a big bar of chocolate bar out of his bag, halved it, and offered one half to Liam, smiling.

___________

"Oh uh you really don't have to its fine" he tried to decline as politely as possible, he's always felt bad taking things from people because he knows he won't be able to give it back to them. Although the chocolate looked really good, like no brand he'd seen before.

_________

"Nah, don't worry about it. Take it," He tossed it over to Liam, and looked out the window at the passing countryside. Ronnie yawned. "So. Are you excited for school? And classes? Did you read the books we had to buy?"

_________

"Nervous, but excited too, I'm kinda scared I'm going to be behind most of the other students with magic but I've read all the books and I've got a pretty good handle of it in theory. How about you?" Liam took a bite of the chocolate, he felt guilty but the chocolate tasted incredible. The worry about being behind had stuck with him since he'd been to Diagon Alley, he'd never practiced magic before so had no idea how he'd fair in classes full of people who'd been around magic their entire lives.

__________

Ronnie shrugged. "Well, I've been brought up around magic, so I'd like to think I have a fair grasp on it. I read the books too, mostly because I had nothing else to do. Oh, do you know your natural magic yet?" Ronnie asked, looking at Liam with excitement in his eyes.

__________

"I'm not entirely sure yet, do you know yours?" Liam had his suspicions what his own natural magic might be, but was scared to voice them in case they wrong and made him feel like an idiot, so he decided to wait for definitive proof before saying anything about it. It must have been great to grow up surrounded by magic like Ronnie, to know about these things, and why strange things would occasionally happen around him.

____________

Ronnie nodded happily. "Yup. It's light magic, probably inherited from my mother. I don't know much about how to use it, since neither of my dads use light magic and each magic has a mind of its own," he held out his hand. "But I can do this." A tiny ball of soft light formed in his palm, and then danced around the compartment before landing on the empty seat next to Liam. It took on a small rabbit shape, and looked up at Liam.  
Ronnie smiled. "It won't bite."

__________

A smile took over Liam's face when the small animal landed next to him. When he was eight Richard had got a rabbit, Liam's family never could get one but Liam visited Richard's whenever he could. He loved animals ever since he was little, taking out cardboard boxes for stray kittens to take shelter in and taking stray dogs to shelters, often bringing lost dogs back to their owners. Liam wondered if he'd ever be able to do that with his own magic.  
"How did you do that? It's amazing" 

___________

"Well, I just concentrate on my magic, then imagine giving it form. Once you learn your magic, I'm sure you'll be able to do it too. Unless it's fire magic, because you'd have to be careful to make sure it doesn't set everything on fire," Ronnie smiled. "My dad Matty taught me how to do it, because fire magic is closer to light than dark magic, like my other dad." He shrugged.

___________

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but if your dad practices dark magic does that not make him a dark wizard?" This had been bugging Liam since Diagon Alley, surely dark magic wouldn't be allowed because it's, well, dark. And would a dark wizard be considered 'evil'.

___________

Ronnie looked startled. "No. Just like light magic doesn't make you a good wizard. The magic tends to reflect the personality, not the person themselves. So, my dad practices dark magic, and it's probably his natural magic because of his childhood and stuff, but it doesn't make him a dark wizard. For example, I could go join the 'dark side', and my light magic wouldn't make them reject me. He might often seem off, but that's just what he's like, it's not because he's an evil wizard. How do you think he can go outside and stuff without worrying he could get caught? You can't get caught for using dark magic, or air or earth. It's just what you do with that magic that'd get you in trouble," Ronnie smiled. "Besides, like I said last week, he doesn't just do dark magic."

___________

Liam was thoughtful for a couple of moments "hmm that make sense, I'm sorry if I was offensive, I just don't really understand all this yet" he went quiet and looked outside, it seemed like they'd gone very far in a very short time, which shouldn't have been possible. The door to their compartment opened and young woman of possibly 18 entered, her eyes were a crimson red and her hair fell in dark waves around her shoulders.   
"Hello, you're first years? I'm Ella, the head girl, we'll be arriving at Fairehorn shortly so you should change into your uniforms, enjoy yourself until then" she smiled kindly then shut the door and left.

_________

Ronnie didn't say anything for a moment. "Don't worry, you didn't offend me. Sorry if it came across that way." He opened his bag and pulled out his neatly folded robes. He put them on and sat back down. "I'm sure Dad might come across as an evil wizard sometimes, like during the duel last week when he pulled out the knife, but he's always been kind to me, which I'm grateful for because I know I was unplanned. My dad was sixteen when he had me. If you got to know him, I'm sure you'd like him. I think my other dad was the same, anyway. I don't know much about their past; they don't like talking about it, but now their not talking at all," he sighed. "Are you going to change?"

__________

"Oh? Hm yeah" Liam got out his robes and quickly put them on, they didn't look neat the way Ronnie's did, which was a source of frustration for Liam, how does Ronnie make his clothes do that? He got out a book to read, he's currently reading The complete adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a book that was often compared to a bible by his friends, it's a heavy read but the perfect way to get someone to stop talking for a bit. He sat in the corner by the window and curled up to read for the remainder of the journey.

__________

Ronnie had pulled out some headphones and was listening to some loud music, nodding his head to the beat as he looked out of the window. He ran a hand through his dark hair, wondering why he'd opened up to Liam after only speaking to him once before. He was starting to feel sick from anticipation, so the light rabbit that had just been sat next to Liam hopped across the seats to him and sat on his lap, curling up there. Ronnie gave a small smile. Even if Liam wasn't wanting to speak to him, he had his magic. It was a relatively easy spell to cast, but the bigger the animal, the more magic energy it used. Recently, when his parents had been arguing, he'd create a dog and play with it in his room. The rabbit was his favourite form, however, because it was small and cute. A moment later, the train began to slow down, and with the rocking of the train, the rabbit shifted in his lap, trying to get comfy.

___________

The stopping of the train drew Liam's attention from his book, had it really gone that fast, incredible! He put the book away and prepared to leave. Outside the corridor was filling with other students so Liam and Ronnie joined, excited chatter filled area and when the train finally stopped completely there was a push forward as everybody tried to get off at once. Outside first years were being directed in a different direction to the other years. They followed the stream of students to a lake reflecting the setting sun, many small wooden boats with hanging lanterns were docked at the shore and first years were being split into groups for the journey across the lake.

____________

Ronnie, Liam and four other first years were put on the same boat and set across the lake towards a tall, intimidating castle. Ronnie had tucked the light rabbit in his robes, in case other students saw. He wasn't sure if that magic was allowed, but he felt he needed the rabbit for support. The other students were chatting excitedly about magic and whether they knew their natural magic or not. A few did, probably the pure bloods, and they were comparing magic. Ronnie curled his knees up slightly, holding onto the rabbit in order to remain calm.

____________

Liam hates being around strangers and this boat with only Ronnie he knows is testing his limits. The others are chatting excitedly and when one gets too close him Liam shuffles closer to Ronnie sending him an apologetic look. He simply can't wait to get off the packed boat separate himself from other people, he's hungry and tired and just wants to sleep.

___________

Ronnie gives him a small but mildly encouraging smile, and stroked the rabbit hidden in his deep pockets, moving towards Liam a bit more and moving his hand, giving him the option to stroke the light animal.  
"I always find that having him near me helps me calm down. We're here now, anyway."  
The boat nudged the ground slightly as it came to a stop in front of the castle that towered over them. They all got out and followed a teacher into the school.

___________

A short walk brought them to the steps of an enormous medieval castle with many high towers, windows lit with candles covered many of the walls. Waiting on the front steps was an old witch wearing burnt orange robes, she was smiling kindly at everyone.  
"Hello first years, my name is Headmistress Grinfall and I would like to welcome you to Fairehorn Academy of Magical Arts."


	2. Mr d'Autrice

Ronnie stood, looking around him at the castle.   
"Now. Some basic rules for life here at Fairehorn. No running down corridors, no back chatting the professors, I'm sure you've heard it before. Magic is only permitted if it is not harmful or disruptive to others," when he heard this, Ronnie let out a small sigh of relief. He was glad he would be able to keep his light magic rabbit. "Should you cast a spell that hurts or disrupts another student, you will face consequences that reflect the spell and its effect."

__________

The idea of being able to use magic freely at school was very appealing to Liam, no more looking for comfy positions whilst reading was only one of the many possibilities running through his head. The headmistress seemed like a kind woman, but strict, Liam's favourite kind of teacher by far.  
"You will be split into four different houses depending on character traits you display, these houses are: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. You will learn more about these after you have been sorted. Every school is working towards winning the house cup, you win this by having the most house points, you are rewarding with house points for good behaviour and hard work but will be deducted house points if you break school rules or don't try hard enough, any questions?"

___________

After no one put their hand up, the headmistress nodded, seemingly satisfied.   
"And once again... welcome to Fairehorn." she turned around and led them through a corridor and opened two tall double doors. Inside, students were milling about, their ages ranging from about a year older than them to about 17,18. Teachers were sat at a long table on the other side of the hall. Four large tables covered with plates and plates of food took up the middle of the hall and in a corner there were a number of round tables with students (some in separate schools) talking to each other. When they walked in, every head turned to look at them. Ronnie tensed up.

___________

Everybody was looking at them, everybody. Liam slightly shifted behind Ronnie so he was less visible from the crowd of students staring at them. They were lead to the front of the room where a simple three legged stool sat, atop it was a large, tattered hat. The colour had dulled from time and it had lost its shape. The headmistress walked to the hat and picked it up carefully like it was made of glass.  
"Carol Abanet!" The headmistress called and the named girl shakily made her way forward to the front of the stone hall, the headmistress gestured to the chair and Carol sat quickly, the hat was placed upon her head and she jumped with shock, it looked to Liam as if she had heard something, could it be coming from the hat? A few moments more and suddenly a rasping male voice called  
"Hufflepuff!" A cheer came up from one of the long tables decorated in yellow (all the students seemed to have seated themselves at their respective tables for the sorting). Carol smiled, clearly relieved, and made her way to the table, finding a seat and being greeted by her new housemates.

__________

"Last name? Caynet, I'll be before you" Liam wasn't really paying attention to what Ronnie was saying, he was too busy panicking. He couldn't be in front of all those people, everybody would be looking at him, he would do something stupid like fall over or fall out of the chair or maybe he'd be placed and then go to the wrong table, then what? This was bad, very bad. He knew rationally he shouldn't worry about being in front of a crowd but there were so many ways it could go wrong and so many people to witness how badly it would go, how could he not be worried? Listening to the names he realised that he'd have to go up very soon and wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to do it, but he didn't have a choice did he? There was no way out of this, unless he fainted, but then he'd have to deal with having fainted where everybody could see him. He was doomed, maybe the ground was feeling generous today and would swallow him up? The air around Liam seemed to be moving as he noticed do sometimes when he was worried about something, he tried to concentrate on the winds moving, but found that his thoughts were still being invaded by panic.

__________

Ronnie looked at Liam, concerned. "Hey... calm down. You're freaking me out."  
As the last of the students with their surnames beginning with B were sorted, Ronnie looked at Liam. Having an 'a' straight after the 'c' could mean that he would be first, and Ronnie knew that that wouldn't help Liam at all, so he kept quiet. Being around crowds never usually fazed him, but he was beginning to feel the pressure, perhaps because he so badly wanted to make a good first impression in front of students he would know for years. Ronnie had already scanned the hall and seen no familiar faces there, which good either be a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe this was his chance to start anew, a fresh slate, without the worries of his parents dragging him down. The sudden question about his parents to Liam had surprised himself as much as it had Liam.  
He wondered what school Liam would be in. He hadn't known him long, so he didn't know much about his personality. Ronnie wondered if they'd be in the same house.

__________

Liam knew he needed to calm down, if he calmed down he was more likely to get through this without incident. So he took a few calming breaths and steeled himself for what was to come.  
"Liam Caynet!" The headmistress called and, hands shaking terribly in his pockets, he walked up to the front. He sat on the stool and placed his hands on his lap. The hat was too big, as it had been for most of the first years, and it nearly covered his eyes, blocking the rest of the school from view. The rasping voice of the sorting hat sounded in his head  
'Caynet. I sorted your father, he was a Slytherin. Interesting.... He married a muggle, you couldn't be a Slytherin then..... But..... Hm no, you are smart though, it's simple'  
"Ravenclaw!" The hat pronounced and a great cheer came up from the Ravenclaw table.

___________

Ronnie smiled, glad to see that Liam was in a house that a lot of great wizards came from. Soon, it would be his turn, because his surname started with a 'd'. What school would he be in? His mother was a pureblood, his father had told him so, and Abbie was too. Did that mean he'd be a Slytherin? Was that what he wanted? He knew he wasn't smart enough to get into Ravenclaw, but it would have been nice to be able to spend time with his first real friend. He could only hope they'd be in the same classes together.  
Soon, all the 'C's were coming to an enough. It wasn't long before he heard the headmistress call: "Ronnie d'autrice!"  
He took a deep breath and, as confidently as he could with seeming cocky and arrogant, he walked up to the stool and the hat was placed on his head. He heard a voice, a quiet one, but loud enough for him to hear.  
'A pureblood, hmm? And parents who practised the opposite magic, light and dark... I wonder... ah, yes, I see. You're worthy of being a...'  
"Gryffindor!" The hat announced, and the Gryffindor table cheered. Ronnie walked towards the Gryffindor table and sat down next to a girl who had been previously sorted. He smiled at her, then flashed a smile at Liam, who he hoped was looking.

_____________

So Ronnie's a Gryffindor, Liam thought it would have been nice to have a friend in the same school as him but was happy for him none the less. He caught Ronnie's smile from across the room and returned it with just as much enthusiasm. Now that he was seated at the his table he felt considerably calmer, people's eyes weren't on him and he was able to sit quietly and watch the rest of the sorting ceremony. By the end of the ceremony there was a pretty even spread of new students across each school, possibly a few more Gryffindors than others. The hall was lively with chatter as people talked with old friends they hadn't seen in six weeks and welcomed the new students.

__________

"So, do you know your natural magic?" The girl sat next to Ronnie asked excitedly.   
Ronnie nodded. "Light magic, how about you?" He asked, leaning forwards and resting his head on his hand.  
"No," she admitted grudgingly. "But I can't wait to find out! Hey, could you shoe me some magic? Do you know any spells?" The girl queried, her eyes lighting up as she grinned at him. She had long black hair tied back in a plait, and her eyes were a lovely dark brown. Her skin was a smooth, olive coloured shade, and she looked like the kind of girl who'd spent so much time outside she tanned easily.  
"Yeah, but only a few." Ronnie smiled softly, then opened his hand and did his usual light animal trick. This time, it was not a rabbit that formed (that one was still in his pocket) but a sleek cat. It strolled up to the girl and brushed against her, purring slightly. Ronnie tilted his head at her as he watched her grin happily as she touched the cat gingerly at first, then fussed it.  
"Excuse me, but what's your name? I've completely forgotten."  
"My name is Alanna," She said, brushing a few stay hairs behind her ears. "What about you?"  
"My name is Ronnie."

________

Liam didn't talk with anyone, he wasn't sure how to start a conversation between himself and the others and they seemed to sense that if they tried to talk with him they'd probably make him uncomfortable. He ate lots of food, he was sure he'd never had such a wonderfully big meal in his life and was making the most of it. After a while of eating food and thinking, the headmistress stood up and addressed the room  
"I hope you are all enjoying the feast! I will only interrupt for a small while, first some reminders. The forbidden forest is forbidden, we do not call it that simply for the alliteration and anybody who is found in there, if they are found, will be severely punished for breaking the rules. The same with books from the restricted section, they are restricted for a reason and cannot be taken out without permission from a teacher, anybody caught trying to take a book from there without permission will be punished. After last year's end of school 'celebration' exploding egg bombs have been banned from the school, any students found with them will have detention and the bombs will be confiscated. We know you students enjoy Joto's joke shop and we don't want to stop you buying gifts and things from there but we ask you stop playing pranks in the school!" She seemed to give a pointed look at a pair of Gryffindor twins in particular. "Now for some better news, this year's head girl is Ella Cartley" Liam recognised the girl from the train stand up from the from Ronnie's table, she was a Gryffindor "and the head boy is Cecil Lunos" a boy with midnight blue hair and silver eyes stood up from Ravenclaw table " Prefects for each school will be introduced separately in your common rooms. Please enjoy the rest of your feast!"

__________

Restricted section, huh? Ronnie thought, his head on his hand still as he pondered thoughtfully. What kind of books are so unique that they a /restricted/? Interesting.  
"So, Ronnie," Alanna started, seeming intent to strike up a conversation. "Are you a pureblood, half blood or...?"  
He looked over at her. "I'm a pureblood. You?"  
She shook her head. "No. I was born from two non magical people. It was half a shock when we got the letter! Back then, magic was just something you read about in fairy tales."  
Ronnie nodded. "I see. My parents like to lead as much as a normal, non magical life as possible, so I guess I know a bit about not having magic"

__________  
Immediately Liam began to think of ways he could get permission for those kind of books, surely the most interesting books were held there, why else would they be restricted. The rest of the night passed quickly for Liam, with not much else to do he decided to go to the common room, as he'd seen some students already do. He found an older Ravenclaw student seemingly about to leave and walked up to them, awkwardly tapping their shoulder, which was about where Liam's head was.  
"E-excuse me could you show me the way to the common room?" To Liam's relief a smile spread across the students face and he nodded  
"Of course, follow me" he turned around and Liam followed, at the door Liam turned around quickly to look for Ronnie.

___________

After talking with Alanna all night, they decided to head up to the common room. There were a lot of older students going that way, so they just followed them.  
"What time is it?" Ronnie muttered to himself.  
Alanna shrugged. "I don't know. A boy stole my watch on the train. But I'm guessing it's late."  
Ronnie nodded. "Yeah. I should probably go to bed, I'm guessing it's gonna be a hell of a busy day tomorrow."  
Alanna clasped her hands together in excitement. "Oh, yeah! I can't wait! I read all the books we had to buy the week we got them, and coming from non magic folk, I'm naturally curious about magic, so I can't wait for History of Magic and Deeper Understanding of Magic. Though, Supportive Magic also seems good, but I don't think I'm cut out for Duelling or MPE." she sighed.

___________

The older student lead Liam through twisting corridors and flights of stairs (that Liam swears moved after they'd stepped off of them) to the third floor. They stopped in front of heavy gilded wooden door which opened to the library, the student went through a number of shelves before halting at a portrait of Rowena Ravenclaw nestled between two bookcases, she looked regal in a deep blue dress holding a thick leather bound book. She closed the book when she saw them  
"There is a house, a person enters the house blind but leaves seeing, what is it?" Her voice reminded Liam of a teacher he had in primary a lovely woman who was fair to every student, she had a strict tone but not sharp.  
"A school" replied the older student, with small smile the portrait swung open like a door to reveal a circular room with two sets of stairs opposite. Everything about the room was impressive, half of the walls were covered with books reaching to the domed ceiling decorated with star charts. The ceiling was a detailed replica of the actual night sky with moving stars, faint silver lines connecting the constellations. A number of round tables were scattered in the middle of the room, most stacked high with thick books. To Liam's left a roaring fire was burning in a large fireplace above which another portrait stood, again holding Rowena, in front of the fireplace dark blue squishy sofas were placed, with students filling all of them. A theme of sapphire blue and dark wood ran through the room.

____________

"Don't worry," Ronnie smiled. "I'm sure you will be fine. After all, it is kinda like moving to a new school back in the non magical world. Well, like I said, I gotta go catch some Zs, so I'll see you tomorrow."  
"Mm," she hummed. "You will."  
He left her outside the girls dorms and walked down the corridor to his own. He passed the Gryffindor common room while he did, so he walked in to ask where his room was.  
The room had red wallpaper, and there was a blazing fire on one side of the room. Sofas and seat surrounded the fire, while further away from the heat there were desks to work at.   
A few students were milling around and chatting, mostly older ones, and when he asked one where his dorm was, he smiled and pointed the way.  
"Your room is there. Your roommates have already settled in, and your bags are there waiting." They exchanged a smile, and Ronnie walked into his dorm.  
Two boys his age were sat on separate beds in there pajamas.  
"Hey." Ronnie greeted with a smile.  
"Hiya. You've got the bed besides the window, if that's okay." A boy with golden coloured hair said, his vibrant green eyes shining.  
"That's great, thanks." Ronnie smiled.  
His bags were under the window, so he opened them and got changed into his comfy clothes.  
The three boys talked for a bit, discussing their magics and lessons they were looking forward to.  
The golden haired boy did earth magic, and the other boy who had jet black hair practised water magic. They were all purebloods.  
They compared spells for a while, but Ronnie's light animal was by far the favourite, which Ronnie was pleased about.

____________

"Where's my dormitory?" Liam got the feeling he was still staring but simply couldn't care  
"Right stairs first door on the left" with a mumbled thank you Liam went upstairs and opened the heavy door, there were six other beds in the room all keeping with the dark blue theme. Three other boys were in the room, one was still unpacking whilst the other two sat on their beds and talked. When Liam walked in all three turned to him, he took the bed in far right corner.  
"Hi, I'm Grayson, it's Liam right, I saw you at the sorting, you seemed pretty freaked" Grayson had messy dark hair and even darker eyes, so much so that they looked almost entirely black  
"Oh, yeah I uh don't do to well with crowds" Liam was hoping too many people hadn't noticed his freak out in the hall but clearly that wasn't the case  
"I get it, these are Jamie and Arthur." He pointed to a small boy with bright ginger hair and a face dusted with freckles, he was average sized but his limbs were thin giving the appearance of length, he had hazel eyes set beneath pointed eyebrows, he was the kind of child that was instantly labelled a trouble maker based on looks alone. Then he pointed to a tall boy with golden hair, he had broad shoulders and just generally looked very strong.  
"It's very nice to meet you, I hope we can get along" 

__________

"Wait... You can drink your own water?" Ren, the golden haired boy asked Cottie, the boy with jet black hair.  
"Yeah," he laughed nervously. "Why wouldn't you be able to?"  
"So there's no poison or anything in there; it's just pure, clean water?" Ronnie asked, his eyes full of wonder.  
Cottie gave him a look. "I practise water magic, not poison. But imagine that though..."  
The three boys pondered the pros and cons of this, and eventually decided in unison it would be both good and bad.  
Ronnie, Ren and Cottie stayed up for a little while more, discussing magic and life in general. They also played truth or dare, basically wasting time to stay up as late as they could like normal eleven year old boys. Eventually, they yawned and decided to go to sleep in order to be as rested as possible for the big day tomorrow.

________

After they had been settled for a small while, Liam occasionally inputting on the conversation the last two boys came in, one was a small boy with brown hair his features reminded Liam of a mouse , small and twitching. The other was average sized but lanky with unremarkable hair but striking blue eyes.  
"Hi" the average sized one began "I'm Merlin and this is Thomas"  
"No way" Arthur was looking at Merlin as if he wasn't sure if to laugh her be completely horrified  
"What? Do I have something on my face? Why are you staring at me?" Merlin was completely confounded  
" Hi Merlin, I'm Arthur" Merlin promptly burst out laughing  
"This has to be someone's idea of a joke, putting Merlin and Arthur in the same room" Merlin exclaimed still smiling.  
The rest of the night passed with quiet conversations, Merlin and Arthur had quickly become friends and Thomas had joined conversation with Grayson and Jamie, Liam sat reading in the corner. Before any of them knew it lights out had passed and they were all falling asleep.

_________

It took a while for the three boys to calm down after the excitement of the day, but it wasn't too long before the gentle snores of Ren and Cottie filled the room.  
It took a bit longer for Ronnie himself to fall asleep. He lay awake for what seemed like hours, thinking about the father he'd had to leave behind. Matty had made him take paper to write to him, so Ronnie decided to do that now.

To Dad,  
I

Ronnie wasn't sure what to write after that. He missed Matty already, but hadn't a clue what to write.  
Eventually, he gave up, put the paper away, and fell asleep.

_________

Liam woke early the next morning, before the rest of his dorm. The clock on his bedside table said it was twenty past six so he decided he'd get ready and look around the common room properly before going for breakfast. He dressed in his school robes, now with blue lining for his house colours and a striped blue and grey tie. He tried to flatten his hair whilst he was in the adjoining bathroom with no luck so decided to leave it as it was. The common room was quiet with only two other students up as early as he, they seemed surprised to see him there, Liam supposed they were use to it being just them in the mornings. Liam was drawn to the towering bookcases so high they needed a ladder (much longer than a regular muggle one) to reach the top shelf books. Most of the books were old and leather bound magic books but some were popular muggle books, which surprised Liam. For twenty minutes he explored the vast amount of books but at twenty two he pulled himself away, intent on exploring some of the castle before breakfast.

_________

Ronnie was used to waking up early in the mornings, mainly because Matty often worked the night shift and he came back at dawn, shuffling through the kitchen to collapse on his and Abbie's shared bed.  
When he woke up, he got changed into his red lined robes and ran his fingers through his hair like his parents used to when he couldn't sleep.   
Ronnie created his light rabbit once again for some company, as he highly doubted many people were awake at this time in the morning. He crept through the corridor and down the moving staircases to the main hall. His animal hopped along besides him. Taking a detour, he walked outside for some fresh air.  
Dew lined the grass and the sun was still rising, seeing as it was September.  
Ronnie took a deep breath, enjoying the quiet freedom.

_________

Liam was walking down the second floor corridor when, looking out window, he saw another student on the grounds, a student with a very familiar animal hopping along with him. So, lest he was too slow, he bounded down the stairs at a rate he wasn't sure even he was aware he was capable of and threw open the tall wooden doors of the front entrance. He hurried along the enormous grounds till he caught up with Ronnie, thankfully Ronnie hadn't gone out too far yet. The small light animal circled his feet and he smiled at it, it was just so adorable.  
"I didn't expect to see you up so early, why are you out here?" Liam asked between panted breaths.

_________

Ronnie turned to look at him. "My dad used to work night shifts, so I often woke up when he came back. I guess it's just a habit," he shrugged, bending down to pick up his animal and holding it gently. "But more importantly, why are you up early and why are you out of breath?"

_________

"I've always woken early, early bird I suppose. And I'm out of breath because I uh may have just run down from the second floor to catch up with you" Liam felt rather like a fire truck his face was so red but he dutifully ignored it. It was interesting that Ronnie was also an early waker maybe they could hang out in the mornings before breakfast sometimes.

_________

Ronnie raised an eyebrow. "The second floor, huh? Must've been a real workout, midget," he joked. "Do you think they'll give us our timetables now? I really hope we're in the same lessons."  
Being in a different house from his first real friend at this school meant they weren't going to see each other as often as he had hoped, but with some luck they'd be in some lessons together.

_________

"I get I'm not tall okay but are the small jokes really necessary?" He was still laughing anyway though "they have to give us our timetables, our lessons start today and I don't know but I hope the classes will go by ability rather than schools, but even then... I don't know " and I really don't like not knowing "what do you want first? Im really excited for everything so I can't decide I'm just hoping they don't make us do things in front of the whole class, but some teachers really like doing that"

_________

Ronnie laughed. "Slow down there, shortie. Let's go get our timetables then," Ronnie smiled then started walking inside, purposely at a slow pace so Liam would be able to keep up. "I guess I'm looking forward to every class, except Duelling." he shook his head.

_________

Liam walked ahead of Ronnie just to prove he could keep up with him   
"Why aren't you looking forward to duelling?" Liam cocked his head to one side, he had truly thought Ronnie would be looking forward to duelling the most, it definitely seemed like his kind of thing. Liam pushed the doors open going back into the perfect warmth of the castle, the entry hall was completely empty of people, not including the portraits of course which were telling them to shut the doors because it was bloody cold out there, he quickly obliged. 

_________

Ronnie took longer strides which was easy for his long legs. He'd never known his mother, so he had always assumed he got his height from Abbie.  
"Oh, you know," he said vaguely. "I've heard rumours that one teacher is super strict. Not all that exciting."  
Ronnie paused at the door, waiting for Liam to catch up. 

_______

"Really? Well I suppose we'll see. So how did you get on with your roommates? What's it like in the Gryffindor dormitories. The Ravenclaw common room is really cool and there's so many books!" Liam couldn't get over how many books there were, and being next to the library was even better. He had been thinking of trying to befriend the librarian for access to the restricted section, there had to be a way to get those books and Liam was determined to find it.

_________

He smiled. "It's great. There's a big fireplace and loads of comfy sofas, but I heard that occasionally the other Gryffindor students move the sofas and have friendly duels. My roommates are great. They're both purebloods. One does water and the other does earth magic. We've got one of the smaller rooms so there's only three of, which is great. I take you love books then." Ronnie laughed

_________

"Only three? There's six of us in mine but they all seem nice, we didn't really talk much, and somebody thought it would be funny to put Merlin and Arthur in the same dorm. And it was funny, their reactions were incredible. And I do love books, always have." They reached the great hall and pushed the doors open, they were among some of the first to arrive because it was still early.

_________

Ronnie looked around, and his rabbit hopped into his robes.  
"I'm guessing Merlin and Arthur are characters from a book you've read?" he shrugged. "I've never read because I want to, except for the school books we bought." he walked up to where a teacher was giving out timetables.

_________

Liam looked at Ronnie, extremely offended, he simply couldn't comprehend that Ronnie wouldn't like reading. What kind of a person doesn't read?   
"Seriously? You've seriously never read simply because you could? And not having even heard of Merlin and Arthur, what rock have you been living under? The Arthurian legends are famous! It's not even just books, there was a tv series as well! I don't understand, I don't understand at all, how could you...? You must be educated on this topic!"

_________

Ronnie looked back at him neutrally. "If you want to, but my first priority is getting good grades, not listening to a lecture about reading books. Dad did that enough." he looked conflicted for a moment, then shook his head and smiled as he receives his timetable.

_________

"Terrible, simply terrible!" Liam received his timetable and checked what they had first, it said subject and room but clearly warrant the name of their teachers important enough to be on there " duelling and defence first! I wonder what we'll be doing! I'm so excited!" Liam was thrumming with excited energy.

_________

Ronnie was distracted, but when he heard Duelling he snapped back to attention and read his own timetable. "Oh, for gods sake," he sighed in annoyance. "I really didn't think I'd have that first, of all subjects. Well, whatever. You're in the same class as me, aren't you? Let's go get breakfast." he set off, whistling quietly as he did so.

_________

Liam grabbed a slice of buttered toast from the table and munched on it, somehow even the toast tasted inexplicably delicious. Slowly the hall filled with more and more students till it looked like nearly all the students were there, some of the teachers had attended but not all as some of the teachers seats were still empty. The headmistress walked in front of the table and made a valiant effort to attract everybody's attention before resorting to simply shouting   
"SILENCE" she cleared her throat and smiled politely " will everyone please move so they are seated at their house tables" a great commotion rose as everyone went to their seats and said goodbye to their friends and when it was silent again everyone was sat at their tables "now that I have all of your attention I would like to remind you that lessons will be starting at twenty past nine and I will expect to find empty corridors at that time, unless you have a permission slip that allows you to be out of class or are accompanied by a teacher. If a teacher deems your behaviour unsatisfactory you will be given a detention set by your head of house, who if you haven't met already I expect you will at some point today. I hope you all have a wonderful first day!" She seated again and the noise rose up to its early volume.

__________

Next to Ronnie, Alanna was sat. She smiled at him.  
"Hiya! How are you? What lesson do you have first?" she asked, her eyes bright.  
"I'm great, how are you? I have Duelling first, and you?" he smiled brilliantly.  
"Oh," she seemed deflated. "I've got potions first. I was hoping I would be in your first lesson."  
"Well, never mind. I'm sure I'll be in some of your classes, or I'd be super disappointed."  
She flushed a bright red, grinning.

__________

Merlin sat on one side of Liam and Thomas sat on the other, everyone was talking excitedly about what they had first  
"So Liam, what do you have, I have MPE" Merlin was beaming, on the other side of Merlin Liam saw Arthur chatting with Grayson who was across from him  
"Duelling, what's MPE?"   
"Oh, it stands for magical physical education, so basically just magical sports. I wish I had duelling first!" Thomas piped up, his voice was squeaky, adding to the mousy impression he gave.  
"What do you have Thomas?" Arthur had leant around Merlin to join in the conversation  
"I have potions, and the teacher is supposed to be horrible and unfair, and really strict. I'm dreading it!"   
"Tough luck, I'm in duelling with Liam, what about you Grayson?"  
" MPE, want to walk down together Merlin?" 

________

Alanna and Ronnie chatted about nothing in particular for a while, occasionally getting more food.  
"If this is just for breakfast, I wonder what lunch will be like." Alanna said, resting her head on her hands as she thought about it.  
"Yeah. These pancakes are nice, you should try some," he pushed the rest of his pancake onto Alanna's plate, who took an eager bite. "Tasty, right? Although my dad's were better... I wonder if they do cooking classes."  
_________

The rest of the morning past quickly and at five past nine Liam went to look for the duelling room, making sure he had extra time in case he got lost. His timetable said the classroom was on the third floor so he found the staircases and walked up three flights, cursing how unfit he was and dreading the day he had to go all the way to the top floor, believing without a doubt that if he ever climbed that many stairs he would certainly collapse. Once on the third floor the classroom was surprisingly easy to find. A line of fellow first years were already lining by the door so he waited with them. 

_________

Ronnie followed behind Liam. He was pretty sure Liam was completely unaware of him following behind him. Outside of their classroom, he tapped Liam on the shoulder.  
"Hiya. Did you have a nice breakfast?"

_________

Liam made a high pitched squealing sound when Ronnie surprised him, a sound he swore didn't happen.  
"Wonderful, thank you, why did you feel the need to scare me like that? If you were behind me couldn't you have just I don't know make yourself known so you don't scare me half to death!" Before Ronnie got a chance to answer the class was going in to the room. It was set up in rows that could fit two to each wooden table, set on the tables were a bowl of water with a leaf floating on top, one each. The most interesting thing however was the teacher, and for no reason other than that Liam knew this teacher, this teacher was Abbie Ronnie's dad. Liam froze for a second when he saw Abbie before gathering himself  
"Oh, I'm a complete idiot" thinking back it was clear that Abbie was a teacher, he'd just been too distracted to notice all the blatantly obvious hints.

_________

Ronnie burst out laughing when Liam saw Abbie. The clues he'd been dropping mustn't have been as obvious as he thought. His stomach starting aching from the laughter, so he calmed down and sat at a table, still smiling and shaking his head.  
Abbie, however, simply rolled his eyes. "Hello. My name is Abbie d'Autrice, and I'll be your teacher," he wrote his name on the board. There were a few sniggers from the students when they heard his feminine name, but Abbie ignored them. "So we'll start by determining your strongest hand and, for those that don't already know, what your natural magic is, in most cases your strongest hand will be your writing hand however this isn't always the case. So if you'd all please be seated we can begin, there is no seating plan however I will move you if I feel it isn't working"

_________

Liam sat at one of the desks in the middle area of the classroom and Ronnie joined him each got their text book out and writing utensils.  
"Okay Ronnie, I acknowledge you dropped hints about your father being the teacher however why, when I clearly wasn't picking up on them, did you not outright tell me? It would have been very easy you could have just gone 'so Liam it just so happens that my dad is the duelling teacher thought you should know before we went in there and it took you by surprise' see? It's really quite easy!"

__________

Ronnie shrugged. "Well, you've met him twice before, and the hints we dropped weren't that subtle. It's more fun when you don't know, anyway. I wasn't expecting you to be that shocked."  
Abbie scanned the class. "Alright. Put your hand up if you know your natural magic."  
A few people, including Ronnie, put their hands up.  
"Okay. I'll work with the rest of you in a second. The first thing to do when you know your magic is to magic yourself control it. If you don't, you could hurt either yourself or the people around you. The people who know their magic, I want you to write down as many spells as you can relating to your power. So if you do fire magic, I obviously don't want any ice spells." He paused, and they started writing. Abbie walked to Liam's and Ronnie's desk. "The rest of you, come here."

_________

What Liam estimated to be about half of the class gathered around their desk  
"I'm going to demonstrate my natural magic to you first, Ronnie can I have your bowl" Ronnie pushed it over to him " thank you, now when we test this something will happen to the leaf and/or water depending on what your magic is. What you have to do is point your strongest hand at the bowl" he did this as he was talking "and concentrate on feeling your magic leaving your body through your hand" a shot of black magic left Abbie's hand to the bowl, infected the water and turned it black "as I said each persons magic might show in a different way depending on the type and strength of your magic, Ronnie if you'd be so kind as to demonstrate yours for everyone."

_________

Ronnie took the bowl back from Abbie and looked at it for a second before opening his left hand that was hovering above it. A stream of light danced from his palm into the water, changing it from pure black to white again. It also landed on the leaf, and it brightened up a bit.  
Abbie nodded. "There is an example of opposite magic. My magic, darkness, changed the water to black, wheres Ronnie's returned it to its original, pure state. I want you to go back to your seats and try it with your bowl of water. I'll come see you individually," everyone left to sit back down in their seats and practise. "Now, Liam, was it? I want you to try it."

________

Liam nodded and held out his right hand above the bowl. He closed his eyes to concentrate better and imagined the feeling of his magic pouring from his palm, when he opened his eyes the leaf was floating high above the water. A bright smile took over his face, he'd done it and not only that he'd done it on his first try.  
"Good job, I'd say that's... Levitation?"   
"I don't think so, sir, I'm not levitating it. I think I'm using air to hold it up."  
"And why is it you think that?"  
"I think I've done accidental magic before, sir, and it always seemed to take the form of wind, however it could be coincidental, though I doubt it"

_________

Abbie nodded. "I see. I trust I can leave you two together to practice?" He said as he stood up.  
"Da- um... sir?" Ronnie asked quietly.  
Abbie turned around to look back at him. "Yes?"  
"Can I talk to you tonight, after school?"  
Abbie gave him a concerned look. "Yes... you know where to find me."  
He walked away to a female student who had set the leaf on fire.

_________

"Everything okay?" Liam let the leaf fall back to the water. Ronnie looked serious which was disconcerting, what could he possibly have to talk about? Nothing had seemed wrong yet, nothing seemed to have happened that could cause worry, it was probably family problems and therefore none of Liam's business however he couldn't help but be curious.  
_________

Ronnie shrugged. "Doesn't matter." He looked away at his bowl in front of him. The leaf was floating on the water, sending out ripples as Ronnie poked it with his finger. He rested his head on his hand and sighed. Then, almost as someone had flipped a switch, he sat up and grinned at Liam. "But hey, wind magic. That's super cool! I wonder if you could, like, make yourself fly on your winds. That's awesome."

_________

Liam rose an eyebrow at the quick flip of emotions but decided to drop it, it wasn't his business no matter how much he wanted it to be.  
"With practice I probably can, but it would have to be a really strong wind. I think if I wanted to I could even turn it into a sort of bullet or knife a something" Liam was thoughtful for a moment. "That made me sound kind of murderous didn't it?" 

_________

Ronnie grinned, opening a hand. A bright light shone inside it. "Slightly. And I could probably blind someone with this light. But hey, we just wonder this out of curiosity, right?" His eyes twinkled mischievously. He closed his hand again, and all the lights in the room flew into his palm. A couple of students shrieked.  
"Oh ha ha, Ronnie," Abbie rolled his eyes and gave a small grin that was invisible in the dark. "Is that a detention?"  
Ronnie laughed.

__________

Liam panicked, he grabbed onto the table to steady himself but when he did he felt the force of a blast of air radiating from his palm. The crash of glass hitting the floor was loud even among the panicked shouts of the students, Liam assumed he must of pushed his and Ronnie's bowls of water off the table, he could feel the water pooling around his feet. Not far from them he heard the sound of a student falling and with that the water around them turned to slippery ice.  
"This is your fault Ronnie! What were you thinking?" He was breathing faster than normal but considered that reasonable with the chaos blooming around them.

_________

Ronnie burst out laughing. "You dropped the bowls." He found this somewhat amusing, that he had created so much chaos in such a sort amount of time.  
Ronnie heard a chair squeak against the floor, and light footsteps walk towards them. "Where's the goddam-" There was a thud, then a groan of pain from the student.   
Abbie looked around the room, being able to see in the dark, and laughed quietly, covering his mouth with his hand. With his other hand, a stream of darkness emerged and rolled around the room, making it darker than it already was somehow.

_________

"Ronnie turn the lights back on right now or I swear I'll hurt you" and he wasn't joking, Liam was thinking of the many ways he could cause this idiotic moron the most pain without inhibiting his ability to return the room to light. 

_________

Ronnie looked at him, mildly scared. "But Liam, even if I did my dad.... Um... Mr d'autrice put a spell around the room. It wouldn't work because he's a lot stronger than me."  
Abbie placed a hand on each of the boys' shoulders. "Is there a problem, Liam?"

_______

"Turn the lights back on Mr d'Autrice." Liam tried to sound angry whilst being kind of terrified, he really doesn't deal well with the dark. The other students had stopped talking and now we're listening, they seemed to have calmed but still seemed worried, the intense darkness caused by Abbie had them more anxious than before.

_______

"I'd rather not," he said smoothly. "After all, this is a great opportunity for my students. I have created a solid wall of darkness around the room. The first person to break it wins. And yes, that does mean it's blocking the door, so you can't leave until you break it. If you're late to lesson, that'll be your own fault. Oh, and try not to destroy anything else in the classroom." Abbie walked back up to the front of the room to survey to students for their safety.  
"Oh dear," Ronnie muttered. "I think we may have a problem."

_______

"It's just a wall, right? If it's just a wall we can use force to break through it, we just need to find a weak point and hit it with all we've got." he thought for a moment. "Try it together?" Liam looked around him at the looming walls, the very solid walls.

_______

"Okay... But let's sort our priorities out and find the wall with the door on, so we can break that first. I really don't want to be late for our next lesson on the first day." Ronnie got up and tried to remember where the door was. He walked towards the wall farthest away from Abbie and reached out to touch it.

_______

"Hey idiot the doors this way." He grabbed Ronnie's arm and dragged him to the side of the room to the left of the teacher near the back. "If I remember rightly, and I usually do, the door should be around here." 

_______

"Well, sorry princess, it was a wild guess," he took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Ronnie held his hands out in front of him. "Now we just gotta break this thing, right? I'm ready." Suddenly, a burst of white light shot out from his fingertips and slammed against the wall. In the short time the light remained in the room, they got a quick glimpse of the wall. It stretched from the floor to the ceiling and looked like the void, as if there was nothing but darkness on the other side.

_______

"Maybe using just blunt force won't work it needs to be focused." Liam held out his hand and concentrated on the direction and shape of the air. He pushed it out at the wall and heard it collide.  
"Ronnie can you hold up some light to see if it did anything?" 

_______

He held his hand out and a small gleam of light shone from it. "This is.... As... Bright as I can do it. Dad is a goddamn idiot." Ronnie muttered the last bit.  
"I heard that, Ronnie." Abbie called from across the room. He was just lounging on his chair, smiling at everyone's attempts to break the wall.  
Ronnie rolled his eyes. "This is stupid." The light flickered for a second, then disappeared.  
"See how you do without your light then, Ronnie my dear." Abbie smirked.  
Ronnie attempted to create another light, but everything he did, it was put of by a hand of darkness, so the light was flashing around the room in short bursts.

________

Liam thought for a moment, analysing everything Abbie had said, there had to be something he was missing. He knew there was something Abbie wasn't telling them, he could feel the difference in his strength of magic already.  
"Ronnie, I have an idea, he never said we had to use magic to break the wall right? So we could use an object from the classroom to break it."

________

Ronnie snorted. "Yeah sure let's just pick up a freaking table, I'm sure we wouldn't break our backs," he paused. "Oh wait, could you use your wind magic to do it?"  
Abbie watched in amusement at Ronnie and Liam logically thinking it through, whereas the rest of the class, except the student that slipped on the ice, were throwing all the spells they could at the wall. He was mildly impressed with Liam for thinking of the idea that maybe magic wasn't going to break the wall in the slightest.

________

"I think I could, let's try it." Liam went to the nearest table and held out his hand to it, concentrating on the table lifting from the ground, imagining it in his mind's eye. The table rose a small way off the ground but fell to the floor again before he could move it to the wall.   
"It's too heavy to lift" Liam was incredibly frustrated, this might have worked had he been stronger.  
"But I could push it!" Liam exclaimed before applying all his concentration to moving the table as fast as possible at the wall.

________

Ronnie watched him in fascination. His magic almost never had a solid form, so it would be impossible for him to move something as big as a table with his light magic. Wind didn't have a solid form but it could move things, which, in Ronnie's opinion, is pretty cool. He desperately wanted to help, so help he did, in the only way he could. He concentrated his magic on becoming a solid animal, and suddenly a giant light rhinoceros appeared next to Liam. It let out a snort, then charged at the table.  
Oh poo, Ronnie thought just before the rhino hit the table, I hope it doesn't break the table. 

_________

Liam didn't scream, he swears he didn't because that would be ridiculous, he did give Ronnie a questioning look due to his choice of animal, because of all animals Ronnie chose a rhinoceros. Thankfully the rhino didn't break the table, but it did put its forehead against the side and begin to push so Liam helped and together they moved the table at an incredibly fast speed to the wall.

_________

Ronnie grinned at Liam. The table shot across the room and smashed into the wall, shattering the black wall into hundreds of sharp, small shards. Just before they hit the floor, they melted into the shadows. The light rhinoceros started shrinking and didn't stop until it was an innocent kitten sat staring at them, its tail wafting from left to right.  
________

"So I think we won, right Ronnie?"

_______

"Uh... Yeah..."


	3. Bad Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad choices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I have sinned.

"Welcome to history of magic, I'm Mr Axfield and I can assure you I am just as unhappy, if not more, to be here as you. So sit down, shut up and try not to make this year hell for all of us." Mr Axfield kept a completely straight face as he assessed the class " I'm not going to assign a seating plan but if you misbehave with who you're sat with I will not hesitate to move you, I will have none of that in my class, understood?" The class answered in the affirmative and went to sit with their friends in the rows of desks, Liam sat with Ronnie again, pulling out his books, parchments and quills.  
"For our first topic we will be studying the history of Fairehorn, which I swear is slightly more interesting than it sounds. Is there anybody who already knows anything?"

_________

Ronnie put up his hand, and the teacher nodded at him.  
"My dad works here and he told me the building has been around for decades, so there are loads of secret tunnels and passages leading to hidden rooms in the castle. He said the Fairehorn building often seems alive in that at night you sometimes can feel it shifting slightly in its 'sleep'."  
The more he spoke, the more Ronnie's confidence grew in what he was saying. Abbie had often told him about the passages and secret rooms, and Ronnie had been looking forward to discovering them.

_________

"You're Mr d'Autrice's son, right? I'm sure he's told you a lot about the school, and it is true that there are many secret passages. The founders originally used them to get to different parts of the school as quickly as possible, but now the locations of most have been forgotten. Many have been sealed because of teenagers using them for inappropriate acts, you know like... pranks" he said 'pranks' in a way it was clear he wasn't in fact talking about pranks. By the sniggering of his classmates Liam could tell that some of them knew exactly what the teacher was talking about, unfortunately Liam wasn't one of them.

__________

"Uh.. yes, sir." Ronnie answered awkwardly, knowing what the rooms where used for due to Abbie telling him, despite Matty's warnings not to.  
Ronnie glanced at Liam's face, wondering if such an innocent soul understood. The look on his face didn't give away much, but he had a feeling Liam was too innocent to understand.

__________

"So moving on, the founders, four extremely powerful wizards who, you guessed it, founded this school. Who here can tell me the names and magic type of the founders?" Liam looked around and behind him, not a single person had raised their hand. This had always frustrated him, because he knew the answer, had read it in his books but didn't want to answer, especially if he was going to be the only one with his hand up in the class. The founders were Renfell Ravenclaw, Gandina Gryffindor, Hadell Hufflepuff and Selene Slytherin. Renfell had a power dubbed 'ultra deduction' the ability to know every fact of an incident in under a minute, simply by observing his surroundings, it's said the muggle books Sherlock Holmes were based off him. Gandina had the ability to apply magical power to weapons to make them more efficient and give them different effects, her weapon of choice was the sword. Hadell had the ability to heal even the most serious of wounds simply by touching the wounded, however he didn't have the ability to heal himself. Finally Selene had the ability to create illusions powerful enough deceive even the most talented Wizards, and naught but the strongest magic could detect that it was in fact an illusion. It is said the ghosts of the founders still reside in the school.

___________

Ronnie just sat there, and turned to Liam. It was very obvious that he knew the answer, so why wasn't he putting his hand up? Ronnie had noticed that Liam seemed uneasy around crowds, but was it so bad that he couldn't answer in class? Surely no one would laugh at him here. Besides, it seemed like the teacher wouldn't hesitate in punishing the students who did anything like that.  
Ronnie just sighed. If Liam wasn't going to answer, there was no point forcing him to.

__________

"No one? I hope by the end of the year you'll be much more cooperative, I may like the sound of my own voice but I do get tired of talking all the time" the teacher, Matt, worried that the class might always be this unresponsive, if so it was truly going to be a long, hellish year for them all "The founders were Renfell Ravenclaw, Gandina Gryffindor, Hadell Hufflepuff and Selene Slytherin. Renfell had 'ultra deduction' to know every fact of an incident in under a minute, simply by observing his surroundings. Gandina had the ability to apply magical power to weapons. Hadell had the ability to heal serious wounds by touching the wounded, however he didn't have the ability to heal himself. Finally Selene had the ability to create illusions powerful enough deceive even the most talented Wizards. You may have heard that their ghosts still live in this school and though it has yet to be confirmed I ask you all to keep your eyes peeled, because I for one will not give up on my search for them, any questions about that?"

___________

Ronnie pondered this. The founders sounded like the people in the story books Matty had read to him as a baby. The ability to use illusions to distract powerful enemies sounded both dangerous and interesting. If these founders hadn't decided to set up a school, but rather turn against the world, that could have been disastrous.  
The thought of their ghosts being around the castle excited him. He'd be sure to go looking some time. They must have been really powerful wizards and witches to live on after death, Ronnie thought. He was curious on how they had died.

____________

"For an easy first task of year in this class I would like you all to right at least a page on everything you know about this school, if anyone has forgotten a pen try writing it in your own blood, if it's in blood I'll let you off with only writing half a page" he smiled like this was a perfectly sane request "any objections?" Liam immediately began writing everything he knew eager to finish within the time limit.

____________

Ronnie obediently starting writing. He wrote about the secret passages around school, and what he had just learned about the founders, then paused. He knew stuff about the school, just useless things like the layout of the library Abbie had willing drawn out for him, however, Ronnie decided this wouldn't be writing about, so instead he listened to the scratching of pens on paper in the class to motive him.

_____________

Liam had read the book on the history of the school and was rapidly reciting everything he could remember from the book, he was disappointed to find he couldn't remember much in detail. He wrote as much as he could to finish a page. Finally finished the piece was about a page and three quarters long. Looking around he found he was one of the first to finish along with a posh looking boy with black, almost blue, hair and glasses, and a brunette girl with two lose plaits. Liam remembered their names being Adam and Hannah.

________

Ronnie had become oblivious to what was happening around him, and having written just over half a page, he had to get back to work. He hummed a song quietly, one he suddenly remembered from somewhere, but just couldn't place it. He only knew a bit of the tune, and hummed it repeatedly until it struck him.  
He grabbed his pen and began writing furiously before he forgot. Around the school there were dolls of people that were supposed to be the four founders of the school, and if you were lucky (or unlucky) enough to see them, they would sing you a song. Abbie had once seen Hadell, he had said, who sang him a quiet, sad song before disappearing. Ronnie had asked what song it was, and Abbie had sang it for him.   
Once Ronnie had finished writing about the four dolls, he dropped his pen, he hand aching, and looked down at his work proudly, one page finished. You could hardly read it because of his messy left handed writing, but it was a page anyway.

_________

Liam saw Ronnie had also finished, as had most of the class  
"Please raise your hand if you have yet to finish" asked Mr Axfield, about 5 people raised their hands "I'm very disappointed in all of you, I expected better, I believed you were better than this and yet you still disappoint me so, I ask you to reflect on how you have wronged me and how that might make me feel, what did I do to deserve this?" He placed a hand on his heart and faked a sniffle "now who wrote more than a page?" Liam along with a few others put their hands up "Sweets! Sweets for you! And you! And you! And y-no never mind not you, just kidding!" He handed sweets to every student who wrote more than a page.

_________

What sounded like hundreds of owls screeched, their loud voices echoing around the castle and signalling the end of lesson. Everyone packed up and left.  
The next five lessons were fun, in Ronnie's opinion. He had MPE after that, with his friend Alanna, which was fun, and then he had Potions and then Supportive Magic. He learned how to do a mild healing spell with his light magic by filling his light animal with thoughts of healing and getting it to touch the injured. That was his last lesson of his first fun day, so he returned to his dorm to nap before it was time for dinner. When Ronnie told his roommates Ren and Cottie about his afternoon naps, they gave him a strange look.   
"Weirdo. I'm going to write to my mum back home, don't know about you." Ren told him, pulling out sheets of paper and pens.  
Ronnie decided that it would be a good idea to write to Matty, so he pulled out his own paper and pens and began to write.

To Matty,  
How are you? I'm writing this at the end of lessons on my first day. I had Dad first, which was interesting to say the least, and I'm with Liam for most of my lessons, which is good.  
I'm really missing you and I hope you're not too lonely there alone. Hopefully the school term will go quick so we can come back to see you. I think we're allowed to invite you to the Hallowe'en party that the school hosts every year, so I'll send you an invite if we can.  
I'll see you soon, I love you,  
Ronnie x

He finished the letter, missing Matty's smile and hugs more than ever and feeling slightly homesick. He knew he shouldn't, his father worked at the school so he could see him most days, which was more than what you could say for other people.  
Ronnie put it in an envelope and created a light owl to deliver the mail. He sealed the animal with an Unbreaking spell, so it couldn't be easily killed until it got to Matty. He gave the letter to the owl, and sent it away through the window.

__________

In the common room, Merlin and Arthur were sat close together on a big armchair looking at something which Liam couldn't see, Grayson, Thomas and Jamie were sat around a table completing homework so Liam went and sat with them  
"How was your first day?" Grayson was doing Potions homework, as were Thomas and Jamie, Liam was happy he hadn't had it today, what kind of a teacher gives homework on the first day?  
"it was okay, duelling was fun, how was yours?" Liam smiled, he felt more comfortable with his dorm mates now than before.  
"The potions teacher is evil, no way he's human, no human can be that terrible but other than that it was great!" 

___________

Meanwhile, Abbie was walking into the library holding a thick book with dark black cover. He hummed quietly as he walked into an aisle, looking for the correct place to put the book. It was there where he saw the History of Magic teacher, Matt. Abbie smiled at him.  
"Hey."

____________

"Are my eyes deceiving me or are you in library? Never thought I'd see the day!" Matt said with the perfect sarcastic incredulous tone.  
"So to what do we owe the pleasure of your company? Let me guess you were looking for something to use as target practice in your next lesson, was I right?" He smirked with the pleasure of sarcasm what a wonderful thing it was.

___________

Abbie smirked at him. "Not at all, I'd hate to ruin that pretty face of yours with my magic. And anyway. I do rather like to read books, despite what Your Highness may think. I'm Abbie d'Autrice, who would this regal King in front of me be?"

___________

"Matt Axfield, Schön dich zu treffen, so you actually read? I'm impressed next you'll be telling me you know what ten plus ten is, maybe you even know how to spell!" The sarcasm was running through his veins, mixing with his blood and making him invincible.

________

"I can, actually. Je suis assez habile," Abbie replied to Matt's German with his mother tongue. "Speaking of which, you should read this book. It's rather interesting." He offered the big book to Matt, smiling.

________

"That's very nice of you, what have you done to it? Io non fidarmi di te." Matt looked at the tome, it looked a truly interesting book, but you should never accept books from strangers. 

________

"det är synd. It's a good book." Abbie took a step closer to Matt to reach the gap in the bookshelf to put the book back. Once he did, he spotted an interesting looking book beneath it in the shelf, and reached for it. As he did, it so happened that Matt wanted to get that book too.

________

They looked at each other, then the book, then each other. Matt pulled his hand away first.  
"You can have the book, I'll read it after, it's fine" he shuffled on his feet awkwardly, not sure what to do.

________

Abbie looked at him for a moment. The stresses and frustration of the first day flashed through his mind before he grabbed on to Matt's hand again, pulling him toward him. Then, not hesitating or thinking about it, leaned forward and pressed his lips against Matt's firmly.

________

Matt was frozen with shock, he didn't know how to react, the last thing he was expecting Abbie to do was kiss him, he's not even sure he's gay! His mind was yelling at him to pull away and throw some sarcastic comment but the rest of his body wouldn't respond.

________

Due to Matt not responding, Abbie pushed him against the bookshelf, still holding on to one of Matt's hands, and kissed him harder. Abbie ran his free hand through Matt's hair and placed it on his neck, pulling him even closer to Abbie's body.

________

He finally caught up with himself and kissed back, returning all the vigour shown by Abbie, but just as he did a squeak sounded from the end of the aisle. They both turned their heads quickly to see who made the sound but all they saw was the ends of blonde hair disappearing around the corner.  
"Irrumabo, this is not going to end well"

________

"Oh shit." Abbie cursed loudly. He let go of Matt and took a step back, looking at him. Matt's hair was messy from him being man handled. This could possibly, and probably would be, spread around the school before Matt could say irrumabo again. How long had they been stood there? Had they seen the entire thing?   
"I did not expect that." Abbie said, waiting for Matt's reaction, whatever that might be.

________

"Who was that? It's only the first day I don't have any blackmail material yet! What are we going to do!" Matt was pacing between the bookshelves racking his mind for the perfect solution to this problem but he couldn't find one, nothing could save them! How could this possibly get any worse?!

________

"Well, I don't bloody know, do I? Just calm down, we'll think of something," he paused, his natural French accent coming out in the stressful situation. "Hopefully. There's nothing we can do right now anyway, is there? We'll just go to dinner like normal and act like everything is fine, it's fine we're fine."

________

"But we aren't are we? Because this is a school and by my guess half of it already knows that we were kissing, your son might even know by now, do you think he'll be okay with it?!" He was pulling on his hair now making it even more of a dishevelled mess, not that it's ever really tidy.

_________

"No, I really don't," Abbie replied calmly, placing his hands on Matt's to stop him pulling on his hair. "But it's too late now to change anything, so just relax." He leaned over to Matt, and hugged him tightly, his lips brushing against Matt's neck. "We can't get into anymore trouble at the moment, can we?"

_________

"The simple fact that you said that means their is far more trouble we could get in, and I'm sure we shouldn't test it this amount of trouble is more than enough, we don't need anymore." he stopped pulling is hair but was still stressing out terribly.

_______

"I like the sound of more trouble." Abbie murmured, pulling Matt's hands down from his head and placing them on Abbie's shoulders. Abbie let go of his hands and lifted Matt's face up towards him with one of them. He looked him dead in the eye. "What are you so afraid of?" Abbie asked before kissing him again, but gently.

_______

He let the kiss linger for a few more moments then pulled back with a sigh "I'm afraid of being caught again, a very real possibility if you haven't noticed, so not here, not now, okay?" He had calmed down some but was still worried, however not so much that he couldn't think clearly, and he knew carrying on was not a good idea.

________

Abbie sighed deeply, and pulled away from Matt. "There are worse situations we could be caught in. Don't worry." Just as Abbie said this, they heard the screeching of owls signalling it was time for dinner. "Come on. Actually, don't. It's best it we walk in separately. I'll see you soon." Abbie looked at Matt for a second more, then turned and strolled out of the library.  
The dinner hall was already full by the time Abbie got to it, and everybody in their seats. Abbie walked towards the head table, ignoring the snide comments from most students. He sat down, and everyone that was still staring at him turned to focus on their dinners. Abbie soon realised that the only spare seat was next to him.

__________

 

When Matt walked in he cursed his bad luck, the only spare seat was next to Abbie! Keeping his head down he walked to the head table and took his seat by Abbie. The murmur of the students filled the hall, many glancing at them and sniggering. Some of the teachers were looking at them strangely, they must be able to tell something is wrong.

_________

Abbie shot a glance at Matt every so often during dinner. More and more students were starting to listen to the other students and were looking at them and smirking. The hall of students of teachers decided to go quiet at the exact time a Hufflepuff shouted out "I ship you two so much!"  
Every student burst out laughing and the other teachers stare at Abbie and Matt in shock. Abbie scowled slightly and ran his hand through his pale purple hair.

__________

"Crawl back into whatever lonely fangirl hole you came from!" After he said it Matt realised that that possibly wasn't the best thing to say at this moment of time but it was already out there so there was nothing he could do about it. Next to him Abbie was scowling at the student body in general.

__________

Ronnie stood up, his chair scraping against the floor, and the entire hall went silent.  
He glared at Abbie. "You kissed him? What about Matty? Does he mean nothing to you now, you cheating little-"  
"Ronnie," Abbie warned, standing up himself. "Shut up."  
"No!" Ronnie yelled. All the lights were flickering on and off, some not turning on again at all. "You can't tell me what to do!" With that, he turned and ran out of the room.  
Abbie rolled his eyes and jumped over the dinner table and followed Ronnie out. Ronnie hadn't made it far, so it didn't take long for Abbie to catch up to him and stop him in the hall.  
"Ronnie-"  
"Don't. Don't talk to me. I don't want to hear your excuses. What, did you fall and accidentally kiss him? Did he kiss you? Don't lie." Ronnie glared at him with anger plain on his face.  
"Why are you getting so angry?"  
"Because!" Ronnie exclaimed, exasperated. "You kissed another teacher, and you're married! And the entire school knows!"

___________

As soon as the door slammed behind them the entire hall erupted with conversation and laughter. Matt was freaking out internally, determined to stay calm on the outside, why did Abbie kiss him if he was already married? This could tear their family apart if not handled carefully, and Matt felt a absolutely terrible about it!  
"Calm please, if everyone please will stay calm. I'm ashamed to have to remind you all that other people's lives are none of your business so you must stay out of them, please resume dinner as normal" the headmistress finished talking and the conversation across the hall started again but more muted, she walked over and sat in the seat Abbie had occupated.  
"Tell me everything" 

_________

Abbie shrugged. "Well, they might not have known for sure if you hadn't just yelled it out and confirmed it."  
Ronnie glared at him. "I'm telling Matty. Does your marriage mean nothing anymore?"  
"Marriage? I can't say that it had been going well recently."  
"So you're using that as an excuse? It was just an argument, or five, normally you two sort it out!"  
"Ronnie," Abbie said softly, placing his hands on his son's shoulders. "We spoke about it, or rather shouted, and we decided we would divorce."

_________

Matt looked at the headmistress for a moment before standing up and leaving to the stares of all the students and a Slytherin student shouting 'going to see your boyfriend?'. Matt was in fact planning on sulking in his room, and when he'd finished that making a plan of action, he was undecided on whether leaving the country or locking himself in his room for the rest of eternity was the best idea.

_________

"W...what?" Shock was plain on Ronnie's face, he clearly didn't expect this. "What about me?"  
"We were unsure of this, so we thought we'd let you decide. But Matty's going to move back to Germany after this school year, and I'll be staying here, if my plans don't change."  
"G...Germany? Dad... He's going to leave me?" Ronnie was in shock, and just stood there frozen for a moment, but then snapped his head up and slapped Abbie's face, hard. "This is all your fault," he screamed. "It's all your fault he's leaving me! I don't want you! I want Dad."  
"Ronnie, I am your dad."  
"That... That doesn't mean anything. I want Matty, not you. I hate you." Ronnie pushed Abbie away and ran outside as fast as he could.  
Abbie watched him go, his face emotionless. Then, unchanged, he walked to the teachers' dorms.

__________

Liam had watched the events unfold quietly and when Ronnie had left he waited a small while before following him, he saw him run off from his dad and ran after him. He couldn't understand how it must feel to find out his dad was cheating but it was clear Ronnie was angry and sadness often followed anger. He found Ronnie sat under a tree on the school grounds.  
"Are you okay?" He knew immediately that that was a stupid question, of course he wasn't okay.

________

Ronnie waited a second and took a deep breath before answering. He closed his hands, opened then again and his favourite light rabbit was sat on his palm. It looked up at him mournfully, like i knew all of Ronnie's thoughts and feelings. "My parents are going to get divorced."

___ 

"And how does that make you feel?" Liam put his arm around Ronnie, trying to convey comfort. He didn't know what to do for him, Ronnie looked so sad and there was nothing he could do to comfort him, it's not like he could get his parents back together, there was nothing to ease this pain but time. 

_______

"How do you think that makes me feel?" Ronnie's voice trembled, and he pulled his long legs close to his body. "It wouldn't even be the first time Abbie cheated on Matty. I don't even know why Matty stayed with him after he did it the first time. I've always felt like a burden to him, I mean, if I hadn't been born they'd be alone together all the time and I wouldn't have come between them. Abbie said he didn't regret me, which was when he cheated on Matty for the first time, but... I just don't know why he would do it again. Matty's gonna... Well, he's going to move to Germany after this year, so they probably won't meet again." Ronnie held his rabbit tightly against his chest, close to tears.

_______

"I'm sorry, I know it doesn't mean anything but I don't know what else there is to say. You know it's not like you can't still talk with Matty, there are ways, even if they're separated it doesn't mean you can't talk to and visit Matty, you just have to trust that everything will turn out fine." Liam tried his best to smile reassuringly but Ronnie's gloom felt infectious.

_______

"I can't visit him now, though, can I? Even if I could get out of school, I need a way to get back home, and I don't want to talk to Abbie. Although," Ronnie mused, thinking furiously. "Dad once told me a secret passage that gets you off of school grounds. Then there's the subject of getting over the lake and out of Scotland...," he sighed, giving up. "I'll just ask him to come up at the weekend or something, Abbie used to come back most weekends, so I'm sure he'll take me back." Ronnie let go of the rabbit and it transformed into an owl.

________

"We should get back, get some sleep it might help clear your mind or something" Liam stood up and pulled Ronnie with him, they were half way back to the school when they saw Abbie and Matt stood talking together, Liam thought Mr Axfield seemed angry at Mr d'Autrice.  
"You're not going to overreact to seeing them, right?" 

________

Ronnie scowled and watched them talk for a moment. Mr d'Autrice seemed to be calm and emotionless, whereas Mr Axfield looked stressed. He saw Abbie reach out to put a hand on Matt's shoulder, probably to calm him down, but Mr Axfield backed away from him.  
"I honestly couldn't care less about them anymore."

_________

"Good, come on, let's go inside" Liam really expected Ronnie to be more upset about that but it's for the best that he isn't. He just hopes that Abbie doesn't try to talk to Ronnie as they pass, he's not sure Ronnie's calm demeanour would last through that. Liam hurried forward with Ronnie at his side and hoped for the best.

_________

When Abbie saw Ronnie and Liam approaching, he went silent and waited for them to pass. Ronnie stalked past them and flung open the door, waited for Liam to get inside, then slammed it shut. Outside, Abbie rolled his eyes and looked back at Matt.  
"Listen, calm down. It'll be okay, what's the worst that can happen?"

_________

"Well you just asked 'what's the worse that could happen?' So someone's probably going to die" Matt was infuriated, what trauma happened in his childhood to make him like this? It must be something truly terrible for him to be this terrible.

________

"Oh really? Unless there's anyone special in your life like family I doubt it'll matter what happens. And anyway, they're just a bunch of teenagers. They won't actually kill anyone." Abbie stepped towards Matt, and held out his hands in front of him. "Relax."

________

"No I won't relax, I will not be relaxed, relaxation is for days when things are going nicely and smoothly!" Matt had the deep desire to punch Abbie, and very little was stopping him from going ahead with it.  
"I finally found you! I recommend the two of you take tomorrow off to let things die down" the headmistress was smiling like everything was okay "get some alone time" she actually winked and Matt was wondering if punching the headmistress would be bad.

_________

Abbie smirked at her and nodded. "Don't worry, we will. Although," he paused, his tone getting serious. "I honestly think Matt is close to hitting me. I don't know why. And he's acting as if it is all my fault, which it isn't. After all, he kissed me back, didn't you, Matt?"

__________

"We will not be seeing each other tomorrow and I swear if you try to I will actually punch you" Matt glared at Abbie   
"Just don't hit his face, it's his best feature." The headmistress was openly looking at Abbie.  
"Don't worry I certainly will." Matt walked inside and went straight to his room, he had never been so frustrated with a person in his life, but he was frustrated with himself to because Abbie was right he did kiss back.

__________

Abbie walked to his own room, so ending up following Matt. When the got to the dorms, he realised that they were next door to each other. Matt had gone straight in and shut his door, so Abbie didn't think he knew. Abbie knocked on Matt's door, and when there wasn't an answer, he knocked again.

__________

The knocking was annoying, and Matt wasn't going to last much longer, on the fifth knock he pulled the door open and glared at Abbie  
"What do you want? Make it quick" his smug face was asking for a punch and Matt wouldn't be able to resist the temptation much longer.

_________

"I want you, Matt," Abbie said, his face serious, but then decided this was not what Matt wanted to hear, so he carried on talking. "To listen to me, that is." He put his foot in the doorway so Matt wouldn't be able to shut the door on him. "Just five minutes. But not out here."

_________

"Can I do something first?" Matt didn't wait for an answer and punched Abbie in the face with all his might "Now you can come in, would you like a drink?" He pulled great satisfaction from punching Abbie and was considerably calmer now, who would have thought that all he needed to do was punch someone? Abbie sat on the sofa and Matt went into the kitchen to put the kettle on before sitting with him  
"What is it you wanted to talk about?"

_______

"Well I wanted to talk about what happened in the library, but right now I need some tissues." Abbie cupped a hand under his nose which was spurting out blood. He sighed. He'd gotten blood on his shirt and he liked this one, that's annoying. Abbie decided to be frustrating and let the red liquid drip onto the couch he was sat on, and drop onto the floor.

_______

"Abbie you're a wizard, we don't need tissues for nose bleeds" he pulled out his wand and waved it in Abbie's direction, the blood stopped flowing "but I want to see you with bruises so if you want them healing do it yourself, I hope you don't know how" Matt looked at the bloodstains on the couch and sighed, he really couldn't be bothered to sort that out right now. "Tea or coffee?"

_______

"Coffee please, no milk, no sugar." He rubbed his temples. He couldn't be bothered to fix his nose properly, but he swore to do it later, he wouldn't give Matt that kind of satisfaction. He yawned. "Now, tell me why you're the one overreacting about us being seen kissing in the library."

________

"Because things get around, and things like that getting around can be very bad" he handed him his drink and sat with his own "is there a reason you think I shouldn't be freaking out?" Matt could see the bruises blooming already in pleasing shades, a bruise certainly suits his face he should wear one more often.

________

"Yeah, there's no point. Why bother worrying? It's just a waste of energy that you could use to read, or duel, stuff like that." Abbie drank his coffee scalding hot and turned to Matt next to him, resting his head on his hand. "I have an idea that can help you relax, and tire you out as well." Abbie gave him an amused smile, watching Matt's face.

________

Matt deadpanned. "Really, what are you a teenager?" He took a sip of his tea. "Anyway any activities with you would be both a waste of time and energy, so why would I bother if it wasn't going to be worth my while?" He wasn't sure but he thinks he might actually be flirting, which is not a good sign, this action must be aborted immediately before things go too far.

_____

"Well then, what can I do to make it worth your while?" Abbie reached one hand out to Matt and stroked his hair. "I'll let you hit me again, I'll let you leave a mark on me, if that is what you want." He shuffled closer to Matt so their legs were touching.

_____

"I've got to say I do like marking you" he touched the bruise on Abbie's face lightly. The flirting was worrying Matt greatly this could not be happening he had said it wouldn't happen and yet here he is, still flirting with Abbie, exchanging suggestive comments.

_______

"That's... That's okay with me." Abbie breathed out, leaning forwards and placing a hand on the back of Matt's neck, pulling him closer to himself. "How do you want to mark me?" Abbie could feel Matt's breath on his mouth, thoughts were flying around his mind and it was all driving him crazy.

_______

"Like this" Matt attached his mouth to Abbie's neck and sucked harshly, before he let go he bit down hard on the skin. He lifted his head and smirked at Abbie "I'm definitely going to regret this" their lips clashed together and Matt tangled his hands in Abbie's hair pulling softly.

_______

Abbie pushed Matt down on the couch hard and bit Matt's lip until he drew blood that smeared across both their lips as they kissed roughly. Abbie slid one of his hands up Matt's shirt and touched his torso gently, then harshly dragged his nails down Matt's stomach. He yanked off his own blood covered shirt and threw it down on the floor, then resumed touching Matt. "You sure will regret this." Abbie murmured between bites and kisses on Matt's lip.

________

Matt pulled off his own shirt and looked down at the red marks running down his chest. He pushed his hips up into Abbie's   
"Let's get this moving, shall we?" he smirked, bringing Abbie's lips to his and his own hands to Abbie's trousers.

________

Abbie watched him undo his trousers, but before Matt could pull them down, he grabbed Matt's hands and held them above his head, smirking down at him.   
"Keep your hands here, or else." With that, Abbie slid his hands down Matt's bare torso and to the waistband of his trousers. Abbie bit down his chest to the bottom of Matt's stomach and undid his trousers, but didn't pull them down. Instead, he placed one hand on the middle of his hips and rubbed slowly. He left his hand there and began to resume biting and sucking on Matt's neck, wanting to make it obvious that he had been marked by him.

________

"Bastard" Matt arched himself into Abbie but made his best effort not to move his hands "I'll tie you down someday and see how you like it" it suddenly occurred to Matt that he was thinking of doing this again and that was almost terrifying enough to make him want to stop but his raging boner said otherwise and stopped him from going anywhere.

________

Abbie smirked. "I look forward to the day, however, right now, it's me who has you." He thought of teasing Matt more, but he didn't have that much self control, so instead he yanked down Matt's trousers and boxers and his own as well. "I wonder," Abbie murmured as he leaned into Matt laid below him. "How loud I can make you cry my name."

________

"Challenge accepted" Matt sealed his mouth shut against any words that might want to leave his mouth and stared into Abbie's eyes. He gritted his teeth against Abbie's hands trailing their way down his sides and behind him resting just to the side of his entrance.

_________

Abbie raised an eyebrow. "In that case..." He flipped Matt over so he was on his hands and knees and rubbed Matt's hips gently, then dug his nails in until he started bleeding. He pressed himself up against Matt, not entering, but rather teasing him. "Do you want me?" He smirked, even though Matt couldn't see it. 

_________

"What do you think, stop teasing me and get on with it!" All contact stopped at once. "What do you think you're doing! Don't stop! Keep going.....please?" Matt spoke with tone of resignation, he knew why Abbie stopped and that stubborn bastard would probably wait as long as it took to make him beg.

_______

"Hmm...," Abbie mused. "I could carry on, but... The thought of Your Highness begging is much more interesting." Very gently, so gently he was barely touching him, Abbie trailed his hand up the inside of Matt's thigh. "I'd love to see how much of a mess I could make you, I'm sure you'd love it too, and I will, on one condition." Abbie leaned forward so his teeth grazed Matt's ear. "Scream my name. Or does the thought of other teachers hearing you put you off? Your choice... Scream my name, or I'll stop"

________

If Abbie left now Matt wouldn't know what to do, surely he wouldn't be that cruel? But Matt refused to scream for him, he wouldn't do it, nothing could make him, nothing he thinks Abbie would actually try anyway.  
"I won't scream for you" keeping his voice even was difficult but he still managed it.

__________

"Are you sure?" Abbie hummed, tracing circles on Matt's lower back with his tongue. The thought of Matt screaming for him was exciting, and he didn't want to pass up this opportunity, but at the same time he didn't want to wait. "I'll give you one more chance, and then I'll stop and you'll have to please yourself."

__________

"If you want me to scream for you you'll have to force me" Matt knows Abbie will take this as the challenge that it is.

_________

"Alright then, Your Highness." Abbie smirked, then entered Matt roughly, grabbing Matt's hair and yanking in back. He grabbed one of Matt's arms and twisted it, forcing it behind Matt's back.

_________

"Fuck! Shit! Abbie! God Abbie that- ow! You fucking bastard!" Of all the things he suspected he never saw this coming.

_________

"It hurts? Good. Punishment for not doing as I asked. Will you scream now?" Abbie smirked to himself, pulling out of Matt and then ramming back in with just as much force.

_________

He screamed, he screamed until his voice went hoarse and screaming hurt, he paid no attention to how loud he was being, it was unimportant compared to the pain. However the pain seemed to be lessening, not by much, but pleasure was taking part of the pain.

__________

"Better. But that's not my name, is it?" Abbie growled, letting go of the arm twisted behind Matt's back and using that hand to touch Matt. His other hand that had grabbed Matt's hair loosened its grip and rubbed his head gently. Abbie entered again, slightly slower.

__________

"Abbie!" He whispered, which was soothing on his hoarse voice.

_________

"Does that pathetic noise sound like a scream to you, 'cause it sure as hell doesn't to me." He sped up again, determined to get what he wanted from Matt.

_________

"Fuck you Abbie!" He screamed Abbie's name as much as he could mixed with many a swear.

________

Feeling satisfied with Matt's loss, Abbie pulled out and picked his shirt off the floor and pulled out his wand. Casting a spell to make it smoother and less painful for Matt, he turned him over and re entered him, slowly. Abbie kissed Matt's neck softly, sucked and left marks all the way up to his ear.  
"Good boy." Abbie murmured.

________

"Fuck you" Matt sighed in contentment, this was much nicer, it was pleasurable and much more comfortable. It only got better when Abbie hit his prostrate, his wrecked voice could barely make a sound.

________

"It's the other way around, Your Highness." Abbie whispered against Matt's neck. He kissed up his chin and pressed his lips gently against Matt's swollen and blood covered lips. Abbie touched Matt with one hand and with the other he rubbed against Matt's bloody hips.

________

Matt took deep breaths, too tired to do much more. His release came suddenly without warning, as he came so did Abbie with a cry, he collapsed on top of Matt.

________

Abbie breathed heavily, then picked himself up off Matt. He stood up and stretched, putting his boxers back on. He looked down to Matt, who was just laid on the couch, looking exhausted. Abbie thought for a moment, then picked him up bridal style and carried him into the bedroom, placing him gently on the bed and covering him with the duvet. After a moments consideration, he got in with him.

_________

"You are a dead man Abbie" Matt fell asleep immediately afterwards.

_________

Abbie smiled at him before settling down, shifting around and trying to get comfy. Eventually he rested his arm on Matt and went to sleep.

_________

Matt woke up to a heavy body resting on his own, he looked down to find that it was Abbie who was laid on him which unfortunately brought back all the memories of the night before. Quickly he scrambled off the bed and to his feet, however the moment they tried to support his weight he fell to the floor with a gasp.

__________

"I will get you back for this bastard! You will suffer at my hand I swear it on the honour of my family! And we take that shit seriously" Matt sulked on the sofa with his arms crossed, glaring into the kitchen at Abbie.

__________

Abbie smirked again and finished making his coffee. He made his way back to Matt. "I'll go run you a bath, or would you prefer a shower? You might need help with that one, and I'm happy to oblige."

__________

"Go run me a bath peasant" He turned his nose away from Abbie and raised his chin.

__________

Abbie raised an eyebrow. "I can help you with that one too." He walked off into the bathroom and turned the tap on.

__________

"You're not coming anywhere near me after yesterday you bastard, everything still hurts, seriously everything, do you have a blood fetish or something? Because ow" Matt looked at himself, covered in bruises, blood and other substances, he shuddered in disgust "You didn't even bother to clean me off last night"

__________

Abbie turned and regarded Matt, his face emotionless. "What was I supposed to clean you off with, my tongue? And why is it my responsibility?" He leaned against the living room doorframe, watching Matt.

__________

"Ever heard of a wash cloth? Not that difficult to find. And it was your responsibility because I couldn't exactly do it my self, I couldn't even move! It's called aftercare you dolt!" Matt huffed, he thought Abbie was smarter than that.

__________

"Aftercare," Abbie murmured, contemplating. "Interesting. And you can do it yourself, you have a wand. Alright, bath's nearly ready."

__________

"You are a terrible person" Matt stood up leaning heavily on the sofa, and walked towards the bathroom with a terrible limp , gritting his teeth against the aching pain in his body.

__________

"Not in bed though, am I?" Abbie smirked, amused by Matt's limping. He walked into the kitchen and began making breakfast.  
_________

 

"You are always a terrible person, bedroom skills be damned, you can be good in bed and be evil at the same time, which in fact I think you've already proved!" He walked into the bathroom and climbed straight into the bathtub with a hiss of pain and pleasure.

__________

Abbie realised he didn't have enough food, but he knew he had it at his own dorm, so he left to get it. Just as he left the room and closed Matt's dorm door, he saw the headmistress, walking out of her own dorm. "Oh. Hello, Headmistress."

__________

Matt heard Abbie leave the dorm, he knew there wasn't much food in so assumed that was why Abbie had left.  
"I hate him, he's an idiot," Matt sighed "but he is good in bed, so good" he looked down himself, he actually had bruises from Abbie's hands.

__________

"Hello, Abbie. Did you sleep well?" She asked politely, but she had a slight edge to her voice, as if she knew the answer already.  
Abbie cocked his head to the side. "Could've been better."  
The headmistress nodded, then gave him a sly smile. "Oh, and do me a favour please. Tell Matt that most, if not all, teachers heard him last night."  
Abbie began to blush, but then covered it up with a smirk. "That was my intention. Well, I have to go, I'll see you tomorrow."  
"Yes. You shall be teaching tomorrow, I assume?"  
"Hopefully. I don't know about Matt though, you'd have to ask him." Abbie smiled and then walked into his dorm.

__________

Matt washed quickly and got out feeling refreshed, he dried and went through to the bedroom to dress for the day, Abbie was taking longer than he expected, maybe he was struggling to find what he needed?

__________

When Abbie got back he had started making breakfast and cookies, they were cooking now as Abbie yawned and read the morning's newspaper, leaning against the kitchen counter.

__________

Matt sat across from Abbie and stared at him critically   
"I think I actually hate you, but I can't quite hate you enough, as much you deserve that is and it's frustrating, can you help me hate you more? Preferably in a way that doesn't hurt like hell, you know because if you've ever tried it you'd know that being entered without preparation hurts like you're being ripped apart."

__________

Abbie glanced up from the newspaper. "'Course I have. I know it hurts," he looked back down. "Maybe you should do as I say next time, it'll be a whole lot less painful. As for making you hate me. I'm sure it won't take much, just hang around with me for a few hours."

_________

"I can't even begin to comprehend how your brain works, were you dropped on your head as a baby? Do you have some deep set trauma in your past that changed you forever? Or are you just a genuinely terrible person for no reason? Please do enlighten me, I'd love to know because you are a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma and I want to figure you out." 

_________

Abbie rolled his eyes. "Deep set trauma in my past? Yeah. And I'm not that terrible, I'm taking care of you now, aren't I?" He turned the page of the newspaper when the oven dinged to say that it was done. "Hey, do you want a cookie?" Abbie asked, pulling them out of the oven.

_________

"Cookies? Really? As if I needed more confirmation of your evilness" Matt took a cookie anyway, they were delicious, perfectly warm and gooey.

_________

He smiled. "I'm not that evil, am I? Now what do you want for breakfast? Toast? Cereal? Name it. I'll make it for you, Your Majesty."

_________

"J'aimerais egg fried avec noisettes, girolles, green ail et blackberries. That won't be a problem will it?" It had always been his favourite breakfast as a child "and I'll have some more of these cookies" he took another cookie and bit into the gooey deliciousness.

_________

Abbie fixes him with a look. "I have eggs, bacon and cereals, Your Majesty, will that suffice?" He dropped the newspaper on the table and ran his hand through his hair.

_________

"I suppose it will have to, but I am expecting my favourite breakfast in the near future, now you know you must make it for me" 

_________

He rolled his eyes. "Alright then." He turned around and pulled out a frying pan and the eggs and bacon. He turned the stove on and put oil in the pan and waited for it to heat up.

_________

"I'm going to sit in the living room, could you bring breakfast through when it's ready? Thanks" Matt stood up from his chair but his foot got caught causing him to trip straight into the table and onto his knees "ow ow ow" a warm trickle was coming from his nose and dripping down his face, he'd given himself a nose bleed.

_________  
Abbie laughed at the pained sounds Matt made, but when he turned around his laughter was cut short. He stood still as he saw the red liquid trickle down Matt's face. "About... what you said... me having a blood fetish... I... oh, hell yes I do." He switched the gas off and walked towards Matt, picking him up off the floor and wiping the blood from his nose and looking at him. Abbie smirked at the blood, then at Matt again, holding him against the wall.

_________

Matt gazed into Abbie's dilated pupils "oh, fuck."


	4. Chapter 4

Ronnie swung back on his chair, holding the table so he wouldn't fall. He was sat in Mr Axfield's lesson, not actually doing the work but rather seeing how much he could annoy Mr Axfield before he got told off.

________

Liam was so frustrated with Ronnie by now, he'd been messing about all lesson and causing problems, pressing Mr Axfield to see if he'd do anything, and just generally being distracting. Anytime he tried to get work done Ronnie would do something distracting and make it impossible, Liam didn't anger easily but was about to snap at Ronnie with all he had.

________

Mr Axfield sighed and finally spoke up calmly "Mr d'Autrice, although I acknowledge you have every right to be... annoyed, I ask you to please refrain from doing things that may distract your classmates" Liam was glad he finally spoke up but got the feeling that would be nowhere near enough to subdue Ronnie.

________

Ronnie smirked. "Mr d'Autrice? Is that what you call my dad?" The students burst out laughing at the comment. Ronnie rested his head on his hands and stared at Mr Axfield, waiting for a response.

________

Matt knew he shouldn't but he really had no control over himself   
"I'm sure he'd love it if I did, but no believe it or not I actually call him by his name." Then to the class in a whole he said "it seems you have forgotten that you have no reason to intrude on your teachers private lives, stick your nose out of mine or I'll intrude in yours"

________

"That's if he loved it at all, sir," Ronnie said, saying 'sir' sarcastically. "I don't even know why you bothered," he stood up and made his way to Mr Axfield's desk and threw the empty sheet on the table in front of him. "Assignment finished." He announced loudly, then said quietly so only Matt would hear. "Ask him about his old job as a kid, I'm sure that'll... entertain you." Ronnie walked out of class.

________

Liam watched on in horror, Ronnie was out of control. Immediately after Ronnie left he rose his hand, Mr Axfield looked at him  
"Please may I go after him sir?" Mr Axfield waved a noncommittal hand in the direction of the door then said to the rest of the class  
"The show's over, get back to work."  
________

Ronnie walked quickly down the corridor, not being stopped by anyone as he smirked to himself. He entered the boys' bathroom and leaned on the wall by the sink.

________

Liam followed after him, entering the bathroom a few moments later  
"Did you really have to do that Ronnie? It was disrespectful and frankly mean, what is with you?" Liam leant against the wall next to Ronnie staring at him.  
________

Ronnie looked at Liam. "What? Do what? Leave the classroom, or not do my work? I'll catch up on it later with Alanna, so I'm not wasting my education if that's what you mean."

________

"No not what I meant, which I'm sure you know, I'm talking about how you talked to Mr Axfield you were horrible to him, and honestly you had no good reason to. And I don't understand why you did it, especially in class of all places, in front of over people, you're being ridiculous." Liam stood up from the wall "I'm going back to class, have fun doing whatever"

________

Ronnie tilted his head to the side. "Liam. Honey. My little small friend. He got my dad to cheat on my other dad. Is that really 'no good reason'?" He shook his head. "Whatever. Have fun."

________

Although he didn't like that he had to talk to Ronnie like that, he did it anyway, but then he felt terrible. He sighed heavily, Liam wanted Ronnie to be how he was before the stuff with his dad happened, but there was nothing he could do about it. As he turned right into the next corridor at the end he saw Mr d'Autrice walking towards him.  
"Mr d'Autrice? Have you heard about what happened in lesson?"

________

Abbie looked down at him. "What? Which lesson? I've only just came out of a meeting, so of course I don't. Why? Is it Ronnie? Is he okay?" Mr d'Autrice looked mildly panicked at the thought of Ronnie not being alright.

________

"Ronnie's fine, nothings happened to him. We were just in history of magic and he was being rude to Mr Axfield, I know he's angry but he shouldn't be like that in class" he paused for a moment, not sure whether to ask "do you think you could talk to him? I don't know if it will help, but if it could you should try to" 

________

He snorted. "Sure, I'll go talk to him, if I wanted to be yelled at about how stupid I am," Abbie shrugged. "I don't know. You talk to him, he'll listen to you."

________

"And what do you expect me to say?"

________

Ronnie groaned. It was dinner time and he was sat with Liam at the Ravenclaw table. He had been telling Liam the rumours he heard about Abbie and Matt for the past five minutes but it was obvious that Liam did not care.   
"So as I was saying, apparently they sleep in the same dorm now, even though they have separate ones and rumour has it that... are you even listening? Never mind. But it's just ridiculous that Abbie and Dad are divorcing now, I mean, they've been through a ton of worse stuff and they're just giving up now. It's so frustrating!" Ronnie said dramatically and laid his head on the table.

_________

Liam made a non-committal noise staring down at his food, occasionally eating it. Ronnie had talked about nothing but his dad all dinner, and whenever they were together before that. He'd apologised for how he behaved after the history lesson which Ronnie accepted readily, and since then they've only talked about that one, increasingly frustrating, topic. When Ronnie opened his mouth to continue talking Liam decided he'd finally had enough. Before a single word could leave Ronnie's mouth he used his control over air to throw a cream pie, an actual honest to god cream pie, straight in his face. He didn't laugh, simply smiled nicely, innocently.

_________

Ronnie sat in shock for a moment, then wiped the cream pie off his face the best he could. He looked down at it in his hand for a second, confused, and looked around for the culprit. His eyes skimmed over Liam because surely such a small person with that innocent look on his face wouldn't be guilty of doing such a thing.   
A Hufflepuff who had joined the table to sit with her friend saw Ronnie and burst out laughing. "Ronnie, I have to say, that is the... pie-light... of my day." She giggled at her own pun.  
Ronnie sat still faced for a second then laughed too. "I'm gonna get you for that." He said and picked up his own pie and threw it at her. It landed on her robes.  
"You idiot!" She shrieked, but was laughing.

_________

It progressed startlingly quickly from there, many eyes turned their way in interest and some decided they wanted in on the fun, picking up their own arsenal of food and throwing it at whoever was closest.  
"FOOD FIGHT!" Was shouted from down the table and the entire hall broke down into a chaos of flying food. Using air to levitate a bowl of trifle over Ronnie's head, he waited for him to look his way and when he did he pointed upwards. Ronnie's head followed the movement so when the trifle fell on top of him he was looking straight at it.

__________

Ronnie pulled the trifle off his head, scooped the remaining amount from the bowl and off his face, leaned over the table, and rubbed it in Liam's hair.   
Food was being thrown from the table closest to the wall to the opposite table. When Ronnie looked, even the headmistress had joined in. A few people who didn't want to contribute had covered their heads with their robes and were cowering under the tables. People were yelling and throwing every bit of food around, laughing in glee when it hit someone.  
It was utter chaos and a few teachers were just sat on their seat trying to figure out why they went into teaching.

__________

Up at the head table Matt was sat next to Abbie, watching the chaos unfold with glee. Joining the fun was irresistible, he wouldn't be the only teacher, even the headmistress had joined. So he picked up a can of whipped cream and aimed it at Abbie, it may not be his best idea ever, he knows how Abbie might react, but he can't resist. So he sprays Abbie in the face with whipped cream, lots of whipped cream, as much as he can get away with. And it is hilarious, until Abbie turns to stare at him, letting him know that he won't be allowed to get away with that.

___________

Abbie glared at him silently for a second longer before using his magic to clean his face. He rolled his eyes at Matt. "Are you honestly that childish and immature?" He asked him, turning away from Matt and looking at the dining hall in boredom.  
There were no students who didn't have food on them, the main people participating were covered from head to toe in cream and food. There was going to be a lot of laundry tonight.

___________

"When did I ever claim to be an adult? I am in fact a certifiable five year old on the inside, and have never claimed to be anything but that." He silently lamented over the fact that Abbie ruined all his fun, all of it.

___________

Abbie sighed. "Okay then. Well, I've had enough of all this pathetic behaviour, when is the Head going to stop?" He said, looking over at the headmistress. He'd got a massive headache from all the kids shouting and from what it was looking like they wouldn't be stopping for a while.

___________

It is in fact only about a minute after that when she stops abruptly, cream running down her face. Matt's not sure who but someone had been brave enough to aim for her head and it hadn't gone well, she stopped like she was frozen before shouting  
"Everybody stopping throwing NOW if you don't want detection for the next three weeks!" It's like someone put them on pause everything finished so quickly.

___________

Abbie breathed out. "Finally." He muttered to himself. He was getting sick of all the shouting, and he'd had enough food anyway so he just wanted to get back to his (or Matt's) dorm and sleep. He left the hall soon after and made his way to the teacher dorms.

___________

Matt finished his dinner at least ten minutes after Abbie left then left to follow him, he went straight to his dorm to check if that's where Abbie had gone. He opened the door to a wonderful sight, Abbie strung up by his wrists to the ceiling with rope feet barely touching the floor, shouting angry words in French.

___________

When Matt walked in, Abbie gave him the worst glare in his entire life. If only looks could kill, Abbie thinks sourly. He tugged at the ropes uselessly for a moment more, completely determined to not give in to Matt in the slightest. Abbie crossed his legs and looked away from him pointedly, not wanting his deep purple eyes to tell Matt his true desires.

___________

Matt smirked with satisfaction, his trap had worked better than he expected.  
"Is now a good time? Or are you a bit tied up?" Stalking closer Matt took a moment to truly admire what was Abbie's stretched out body, his balance which was precarious at best. In his opinion it was truly beautiful.

___________

"I will end you if you do not let me go." His heart was racing, thumping against his school robes. His breath was uneven and his hands were shaking. Abbie turned his face away from Matt, as far as he could go, so Matt wouldn't see him bite his lip in anticipation. "Let me go." Abbie's words were meant to be a demand, but instead it sounded like a plea.

__________

"And why should I do that?" His fingers trailed down the seam of Abbie's robes "I think I'm going to take my sweet time with this, really draw it out. Would you like that Abbie?" He pulled out his wand and performed a vanishing spell on Abbie's outer robes.

__________

Abbie shook his head, his breaths coming out in tiny gasps. The shock of losing his outer clothes made him recoil away from Matt. "No... no, I wouldnt..." he was lying, obviously. There was nothing more he wanted than for Matt to touch him, make him do the things he did to Matt, but not here, not now. Against a wall, maybe, but his hands were steadily becoming numb from the ropes and it was surprisingly uncomfortable being strung up by the ceiling.

__________

Matt gently cupped Abbie's face, it was clear he was panicking. However as soon as their skin made contact Matt got a influx of information from Abbie, his power being knowledge he was capable when he wanted to extract information from a person by touching them, and emotions and memories were simply another type of information. He felt Abbie's panicked feelings, overwhelming him. And then he was sucked in by a memory of Abbie's

 

"Come here, my servant," the deeply masculine voice echoed around the empty room. "I have new orders for you."  
"Yes, my lord," Abbie replied, kneeling down in front of the master with a hand over his chest. "As usual, I shall carry them out with haste, and shall not hesitate in obeying your orders."  
"I have an item that I intend to be placed in a spot that can only be accessed by you. You will plant the item, without letting anyone else know what you're up to, and make it out. I need you to be sly, quiet and inconspicuous. But of course, you will have no problem in doing so." Abbie sensed a mild threat in those orders. He had never been caught before, and he was certain that it wouldn't happen any time in the future.  
"Yes, my lord."

Matt was shocked into stillness unsure what to do with the information he had been given, he knew little about the man in the memory only that Abbie both respected and slightly feared him, meaning he must be very powerful.

__________

Abbie's whole body trembled when he saw Matt's shocked expression. Did he do something wrong? Did he not want to do it anymore? His heart was still racing and he couldn't calm his uneven breath. He attempted to swallow his panic and breathed in deeply yet shaky. Then, he asked in a quiet, unsure voice. "Are... are you okay?"

__________

A worried voice snapped him out of it, Abbie was looking at him with concern tinged panic so he quickly got back into his right state of mind.  
"Fine, I'm fine. But you're not, I'll get you down" with a click of his fingers the ropes untied themselves and vanished, Matt caught Abbie before he could fall to the floor.  
"I'm sorry, I'm really really sorry."

__________

Abbie shook his head, moving his wrists about to circulate the blood. "I did worse to you, don't worry." He avoided Matt's eyes, insanely curious about what made him freeze like that, yet he didn't dare ask. "You... you can tie me up again if you like."

__________

"If it freaks you out then we don't have to, we never have to try anything like that again if you don't want to. Anyway I should have at least forewarned you about it, it was wrong of me not to. And what you did to me didn't give me a panic attack, only made me a bit sore, what I did was worse and I am going to apologise for that as much as I can because I feel terrible."

__________

Abbie picked at his nails, purposefully not looking at Matt. "Understandably, I can handle most things in bed but... not by the ceiling. And don't ever, ever call me 'girl' or 'boy'." He shuddered at the thought of it. "Oh, and don't gag me. Sorry if that's a problem."

__________

"Not a problem at all, I give you permission to take retribution in any form you like if I ever do anything of the things you say you aren't okay with. We should have talked about this extensively before we started. So in conclusion we're both idiots who rushed into things and we are going to fix that" Matt was willing to admit that he'd been an idiot, that he'd seriously overlooked important things, as much as it pained him. He may not have had a relationship such as this before but he knew enough to know that he should've talked with Abbie about it first.

__________

He was relieved that Matt seemed willing to not do the things he hated. It was more than he could say for some people though. Abbie cocked his head to the side, his purple/black hair falling in his eyes even after he tucked the stray strands behind his ear. "How can we fix it?"

__________

"We are going to have a nice long talk about what we're okay with and what we're not, we are going to negotiate our kinks." Matt wasn't going to admit to the blush that crossed his face, never in a million years. He stood up, helping Abbie up with him, and they sat on the sofa next to each other.

__________

A sudden realisation hit Abbie like a slap. "My phone." It was on the floor where he had dropped it when the ropes had suddenly strung him up. It hadn't cracked or anything, not that it'd matter, but he was still on line with his still-husband. "I, uh... was speaking to Matty when..."   
"Glad you noticed, it took a while." A voice from the phone drawled out before there was the beep of him hanging up.  
__________

"Fuck, fuckity fuck, goddamn it, shit" Matt practically ran to end the call, which Matty managed before he got there, which also included running straight into a coffee table, that would create a truly impressive bruise that Matt didn't have the capacity to think about right now.

__________

Abbie rolled his eyes at Matt running into a table, then sighed and slumped forward on the sofa, his head on his knees. He took a deep breath, trying to stop the thoughts whirling around his mind. He suddenly remembered something else. "Don't make me dress up as a girl. I can't... bear to do that again." He looked at the carpet, ashamed of how many things he needed not doing to him.

_________

Matt picked up on Abbie's use of 'again', but that was probably a conversation for another time  
"Of course, if you don't like it we won't do it" Matt thought for a moment "I don't think I'd like that anyways, I'm gay because I don't want to have sex with girls, therefore dressing as a girl would kind of defeat the purpose"

_________

Abbie nodded slowly. "Fair enough. Oh... ah..," he winced at the thought of telling Matt this one, but he was absolutely certain that he wouldn't question it... at least, not yet. "Don't... call me Abbie. Not while we're... doing that. It's just a name I made up for str-... um... it's a nickname. My actual name is Abreice."  
_________

"Cool name, it's interesting, again if I ever slip up however you wanna punish me" Matt blushed at his less than perfect phrasing "what I mean to say is... Well... Uh... Never mind" he gave up with a heavy sigh, he had no way to fix that.

_________

He nodded again, not even bothering to make some snarky comment about it. Abbie was suddenly aware that they'd only talked about him. "So, what about you? Anything you want me to do? Or not do, or say?"

_________

"I don't know, I've never really done anything like this before, I'd have to do some research. One thing I'd say is never buy me anything, I hate it, unless you can find some explanation that shows it's really for both of us or whatever, it'd have to be a damn good explanation though."

_________

"Okay. That sounds fair. Is there anything else that you can think of? Like, I don't know, nicknames or being tied up or roleplay? Anything?"

_________

Matt thought for a moment "I think never call me boy either, but I doubt you would anyway... If we're ever trying impact play, never with a belt. And never do anything whilst under the influence of alcohol." Matt shuddered as he remembered another thing "I don't know if you do, but never smoke around me or in my dorm rooms"

__________

Abbie leaned back on the couch. "I do, occasionally, but I'll bear it in mind and also clean my teeth afterwards, is that okay? And about the alcohol, I do drink..., " he paused. "Frequently, but if I ever, ever do something you do not want me to do, call me 'boy', 'girl', or say you'll make me dress up. I'll stop for sure. Don't worry about saying those things while I'm drunk, it's the only way I know to get me to stop. I'm more of a mournful, emotional drunk anyway, the one that breaks down crying and spins you the sorry tale of my life, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about."

_________

"Okay, thank you that should help. Can I ask what kind of alcohol you tend to drink? Drinks like whiskey... I won't be able to be around you whilst you're drinking, most other alcohol I'm fine with, I'll tell you if I'm not though." Matt wasn't sure he was totally okay with Abbie's methods of stopping whilst drunk and likely emotional but unless he finds a better way (which he's sure he'll find) then it'll have to do.

_________

"Whiskey? Eh. I prefer vodka and stuff like that, I'll try to stick to my dorm if you'd feel safer with me in another room. I can attempt to cut back on drinking and smoking, unfortunately I don't think I'll be very successful. However, I am willing to try."

_________

"That won't be a problem, so if we've gone over everything we can't do how about things we can and would like to try" Matt smiled like they weren't talking about what deviant sex acts they'd like to perform, it helped him deal with what he imagines will be a very embarrassing conversation.  
"Have you got anything in mind?"

_________

"Well, you should know by now that blood and bleeding is a sure way to get me aroused, but if you're not willing to venture down that path, I understand. I'm not sure I know what I wouldn't like to try, but if you want to roleplay, I am kind of willing... depends what we're role-playing, but like I said, no particularly feminine clothes like dresses and skirts." Abbie shuddered.

__________

"I'm fine with your interest in blood as long as what you do, or I suppose possibly what I do, doesn't leave any permanent scars, so if they're healed with magic reasonably soon after then they shouldn't scar. I'm personally not sure about role-playing but it is an idea for another time that could be nice, and of course no feminine clothing. What are your opinions on voyeurism and exhibitionism?"

__________

Abbie shook his head. "Voyeurism? Ehh... maybe, but not in... extreme cases, if that makes sense. And as for exhibitionism, I honestly don't think so if it's sexual, I'm okay with kissing in public but if it was sex? I don't... think so. What about you?"

__________

"I'd say the same as you on voyeurism, but i don't think I could do anything in public, so no PDA.... I might be able to try some stuff if you really wanted to? I think, but it's probably not going to happen. How do you feel about impact play, spanking, whipping etc. I'm fine receiving as long as it's not with a belt, which I've already said, and I don't think I'd mind giving. How do you feel about giving or receiving for that?

__________

"Giving, receiving, I honestly don't mind. Actually, I might prefer to receive now that I think about it. I don't mind what with, go all out or not, it's okay." Abbie wasn't really bothered about no PDA, he wasn't really that affectionate anyway, so if Matt didn't want it, that's okay. Impact play is definitely something he is willing to try, even if Matt didn't end up wanting to be hit, he would like to be.

___________

"Good to know, is there anything else you can think of right now? If not we can do something else and Ill go and do some more in depth research and we can talk about what we want another time." Matt was surprised by Abbie's preference to receive, he honestly thought he seemed like a more dominant kind of man.

___________

Abbie suddenly realised that he still had no outer clothes on. He wrapped his arms around himself, then looked at Matt. Then he turned and straddled Matt, putting his hands on Matt's neck and resting his head on his shoulder. "How about just plain, gentle, vanilla sex?" Abbie asked into Matt's ear quietly.

___________

"Are you sure you're feeling better? We aren't doing anything if you're not feeling 100%" He gently placed his hand against Abbie's face and took a reading of Abbie's emotions. He hated doing this, it was an invasion of privacy and therefore unfair to whoever he performed it on, but he needed to know Abbie was better. Matt made sure to focus on emotions so he didn't see any memories again, the last one still had him confused and he'd need to go over it again to better understand it. Abbie seemed better than before, not as panicked.

___________

"I'm great, don't worry. And if you want to, I'm not stopping you." Abbie said, straightening his body out so he was sat on Matt facing him. Abbie tried to figure out what Matt was thinking, unfortunately, he'd never been good with people and so didn't have a clue how to read facial expressions. Abbie picked up Matt's hand and pressed it against his cheek, tilting his head sideways at him.

___________

Matt looked at him suspiciously for a few moments before relenting   
"Don't push yourself if you start to feel uncomfortable, okay?" Matt leaned in and pressed their lips together, kissing him slowly.

___________

Abbie kissed back gently, wrapping his hands into Matt's hair. He pressed his body up against Matt's, feeling his slender yet built body against his own.

___________

Matt put his hands on Abbie's waist, rubbing small circles into his sides.  
"Should we move this to the bedroom?" He asked, breaking away from the kiss to restart it again as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

___________

Abbie hummed into the kiss, trying to make it last as long and he could before pulling away and standing up. He tugged on Matt's hand and walked into the bedroom. Anticipation of what was going to happen made his heart race. As soon and they were in the bedroom, Abbie turned and kissed Matt again.

___________

Matt sat Abbie down on the edge of the bed, following him into his lap. He trailed his lips across Abbie's jaw, down his neck and latched onto a piece of skin where neck meets shoulder, sucking the skin until it went red.

___________

Abbie let out a quiet whimper, grabbing at Matt and pulling him closer, desperate to be touched. He tugged at Matt's robes, wanting them to be off as soon as possible, so he pulled them over his head, having to break the kiss for only a second. Abbie pushed Matt down on the bed, straddling him, kissing him and exploring his body with his hands.

___________

Matt rose his hips to grind against Abbie's (should he start calling him Abreice now to get used to it?) drawing a moan from himself and Abbie. He flipped them over so he was on top and resumed a heated kiss.

___________

Abbie kissed back passionately, running his hands through Matt's hair and pulling at it gently. He groaned softly into the kiss and his hands trailed down to Matt's trousers, too impatient to wait for Matt to take them off himself.

___________

Matt went for Abreice's (still strange) clothing, first hurriedly taking off his shirt, then fumbling to undo his trouser button. He pulled them down and through them to an indeterminate Spot on the floor. 

___________

Abbie pulled Matt closer, undoing his trousers and yanking them off. He threw them somewhere in the room. Now they were both in their underwear. Abbie wrapped his legs around Matt's hips, kissing him passionately.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt was lying next to Abbie, happy and sated. A tired laziness hung around them as they relaxed in post-coital bliss.  
"I'd like to" yawn " top again sometime, that was fun.  
He placed a hand on Abbie's arm rubbing up and down idly.

____________

Abbie nodded slowly. "Mm... maybe." He closed his eyes. Where would he be if he hadn't met Matt in the library? In his own dorm, preparing lessons? Or would he be checking the library to see if there were any good books or his had been taken yet? He was suddenly relieved that he didn't give the book Matt. That would've been... disastrous.

_________

His inability to control his power was terrifying for Matt when he got another memory from Abbie:

"Will this book really do the job?" Abbie's voice   
"Of course it will" the man who spoke stood in a dark lab/dungeon with Abbie, with many glass jars and cauldrons. He sounded affronted by Abbie's suspicion of his work "a chaos generator in a simple form, a common students book, it sends them mad with anger, truly incredible, you should have seen the effect it had on the test subjects" the man had a mad scientist look about him, messy hair and crumpled clothes, goggles on top of his head.  
"It must work as you say it will, you know the dark lord doesn't like failures."

__________

Abbie went over the memory in his head. He didn't doubt the man he met, but he thought it would've had an effect by now, but nothing suspicious so far. He remembered Matt laid next to him, and his eyes opened to look at him. Matt seemed a bit shocked, which of course shot panic through Abbie. "Are you okay?" He asked, he voice thick with worry.

__________

Matt wasn't fine he wasn't fine at all, he was as far from fine as you could get. The dark lord, there was no way not Abbie, it was impossible, he wouldn't, would he?  
"I'm fine, why do you ask?"   
There had to be a mistake, what he saw was wrong, just because he saw two memories, ones that were at first glance quite damning, didn't mean Abbie was working with- he had to be missing something!

__________

Abbie sat up and looked at him from a different angle. "You look like... you're going to be sick. I'll go get a bucket." He jumped up our of bed and ran into his own dorm to get the bucket he used for a bin. He emptied the contents onto the floor and rushed back to Matt, his heart thumping. Why didn't Matt look well? Was he just tired? Abbie took longer better back into Matt's bedroom, panicked thoughts shooting around his mind.

__________

Thinking about it Matt did feel a little sick, and it was very considerate of Abbie to help with that, he can be very nice, but that makes no sense if what he saw in Abbie's memories is true, so surely it can't be. Although it's not like the dark lords followers aren't human, most of them are, so of course it makes sense that they would be capable of being nice, it just doesn't fit the image he has of those people. He can't understand how those people and Abbie could be the same.

__________

Abbie trudged into the bedroom and put the bucket in front of Matt. "Please don't be sick on the bed." He said wearily. He honestly couldn't be bothered to clean the sheets and he had to start planning his lessons for tomorrow. It was quiet for a moment. "What happened? You just kind of... froze up."

__________

"A sudden sickness overcame me, I'm fine though, nothing to worry about" that had always been Matt's go to excuse when he would read someone by accident whilst he was still getting control of his powers, but he has control of his powers now, this shouldn't be a problem anymore so why was he struggling with Abbie.

__________

Abbie gave him an unsure look, searching Matt's eyes for a lie or truth. He gave up, sighing, and stood up. "Alright then." He stood up and stretched, his bones cracking. "I'm going in the shower, shout me if you need me." Abbie really didn't want to leave Matt alone, but perhaps he would feel better if he left the room. As he walked to the bathroom, he could feel his panic worsening. Abbie took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down and ran the bath.

__________

It was easier to breathe without Abbie in the room, easier to think. The first memory he saw seemed to be of Abbie having a meeting with the dark lord, about the book that he'd seen in memory two. The book which was capable of making people mad with anger, the book which Matt thinks he's seen before. Could it be, that first day he saw Abbie, Abbie had the book with him. To convince him that almost enough. There is little that disproves what he has seen, the only things against it are his opinions, and the opinion of one person can not go against the evidence put before him.

__________

Abbie didn't have a particularly long bath, but long enough for him to take control of his breathing. He got changed into a t shirt and shorts, and didn't go back into the bedroom straight away. He needed time to think. Abbie walked into the main area with the living room, turned off all the lights and used his magic to make it even darker. He always concentrated more in darkness.

__________

He needed a plan, he knew that he needed to put what Abbie was doing in the open, it was for the best, so no one got hurt. But he couldn't definitely get more proof first, which would certainly take a while, and he's definitely not stalling for time. Anyway with more proof he might be able to find evidence that it wasn't what he thought it looked like.

__________

Abbie paced from wall to wall, each theory for Matt's shock being even more crap than the last. Eventually, he couldn't carry on walking in such a small room, so he put on his long black cloak and walked outside. Abbie walked past the fruit trees and past the greenhouse until he was stood before the Forbidden Forest. It was dangerous to go in alone, Abbie knew that, but he needed to feel that sense of danger and sense the adrenalin rushing through his body.

__________

Matt heard Abbie leave and formulated a plan, admittedly a flawed plan, but a plan none the less. He got up and dressed quickly making himself presentable then went from his rooms to Abbie's with the intention of looking for anything incriminating. Even he doesn't find anything then he can at least relieve some suspicion from Abbie, or at least that's the hope.

__________

He wasn't there to fight anything, which was good because nothing popped out at him as he walked through the woods. It was dark, and the tall, thick branches of leaves overhead blocked out the little moonlight there was.  
Being around Matt reminded Abbie of his younger, more painful days. For what reason, he did not know, but he couldn't let it show, no matter what. It was as he squeezed past a tree and heard a rustle of leaves that the memory hit him.

He's out of breath. He'd ran from his parents' house to some random alley. It was dark, and the walls loomed over him. He took a deep breath and took a few steps forward. Tears trickled down his face, along with the blood from his mother's hit. He heard a voice behind him and spun around.  
Two men were stood behind him, smirking at him.  
"Would you look at that Joey, we got ourselves a pretty girl." One said.   
The boy clutched the dress he was wearing, and whispered, "I'm not a girl, I'm a boy."  
They both laughed. "Oh really? Why don't you show us, little boy?" The second one said, and they walked forward toward him. The boy froze in fear and couldn't move.  
The first man grabbed at the dress and pulled it off in a swift motion. "This is all you're good for, stupid girl. Showing your body off and pleasuring men."

Abbie snapped out of the memory with a gasp, feeling the ghost hands of the two men that night touching him and hearing them repeat over and over again that he was an idiotic boy or girl that should use that underfed, skinny body of his to pleasure men.  
Abbie stood up, not remembering when he fell over and turned to run out of the forest.

___________

Abbie's room was clean, everything in its place. He knew he wouldn't have long so he started by looking through drawers closest to him, no results, and then moving on to the others, systematically checking every place he could for anything that could be considered bad, but he kept coming up with nothing every time, and it was getting more and more frustrating.

___________

It was just as he was about to run that his entire body relaxed. Why was he about to run? Nothing was going to get him here. So, rather than sprinting, he began to walk. He walked slowly at first, not in any particular hurry, and when he felt the wind on his face he got the urge to run again. This time he did, for the pleasure of the cool breeze wafting around him rather than fear. He ran and ran and didn't stop until he got to the school doors. Abbie's breath came in gasps, he could feel his muscles finally got the exercise they wanted and were relaxing now. The run was exhilarating. Abbie walked back up to the dorms, calm and quietly satisfied. A tiny part of him was scolding himself for running after doing 'it'. His lower reigns were beginning to ache.

___________

As much as Matt didn't want to find any incriminating material for Abbie he was so very frustrated that he hadn't anyway, nothing through all the rooms could even hint towards Abbie being when of the dark lords followers. Sure it was likely Abbie had hiding places but Matt didn't have the time to find them. So instead he paced and pulled his hair out in frustration before deciding he should leave if he didn't want to get caught.

___________

Abbie got to the dorms and was about to go into Matt's, before he remembered Matt probably didn't want to see him, so instead he turned towards his door and opened it. He was shocked to say the least when he walked in and saw Matt.  
"What are you doing here?"

___________ 

"I was looking for you, got a little bit worried so I came to see if you were here, I'm sorry I shouldn't have this is your space. Do you want me to leave?" Matt really hoped he'd say yes, being in the same room as him after the panic he just worked up is like hell.

___________

Abbie gave him a look. "I go to your dorm all the time, I don't mind. What I asked for was because I thought you'd be asleep or still in your dorm so I could leave you alone for a bit. You can go back to your dorm, I want to stay here for a bit."

___________

"Okay, considering you're not missing and haven't befallen some serious harm I am going back to bed, so I can at least pretend to be a functioning human being not a zombie tomorrow. Goodnight, see you in the morning?" Matt tried to make it look like he wasn't rushing to get out.

___________

Abbie narrowed his eyes at Matt. "Sure. I'm going to plan my lessons. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, Abbie sat down at his desk and pulled out pens and paper.

___________

Matt went back to his own rooms quickly and collapsed on his bed, he didn't even bother to try and stay awake, knowing his thoughts would plague him.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Abbie had had a free period last lesson, so he had gone straight to his own dorm and locked the door so Matt wouldn't come in (hopefully). Matt had mentioned not liking people doing stuff under the influence of alcohol and he felt the urge to drink himself six feet under, so locking the door was the only thing he could think of doing in his drunken state. Abbie was pacing the room slowly, occasionally crying or murmuring to himself.

_____________

Teaching had been endlessly tedious and students as always were pains in the ass, so Matt decided after that he wanted to see Abbie. Of course on today of all days Abbie's door was locked, he knocked to see if Abbie was allowing visitors or not.

_____________

Abbie didn't hear the knock on the door, he was too busy moping around the room, taking sips from the bottle in his hand. He'd lost count how many he'd drunk, but he didn't care. The more, the better. He let out a little wail and wrapped his arms around himself.  
_____________

Matt heard a pathetic wail coming from Abbie's room and threw all caution to the wind, it no longer mattered whether Abbie was willing to see him or not, he was getting Matt's company anyway. He performed a quick spell on the door and it unlocked, which means there were no extra protections which is something he's going to file away for later, the first thing he noticed was that Abbie had been drinking, a lot. The second thing was that Abbie was right when he said he was an emotional drunk.

_____________

Abbie turned when he heard the door open. He frowned. "But... I locked it so you wouldn't... why did I lock it?" He bent down and put the bottle on the floor then stood up properly and rubbed his eyes, trying to dry them. He walked up to Matt and gave him a feeble push towards the door. "Go away, I locked the door for a reason... that I cannot remember." Not knowing why he had locked the door upset Abbie and tears welled up in his eyes.

____________

"I'm not going anywhere, mainly because you're crying and I'd feel like a terrible human being, but also because drunk you seems interesting, potentially funny. Come sit on the sofa with me?" Matt knew he locked him out because of what he said about never doing anything whilst under the influence, but when Abbie was crying like that how could he possibly turn away.

____________

"But I said I wouldn't drink around you!" Abbie sniffled. "Or at least... I think I did." He paused for a moment, trying to remember but just ended up with a mild headache. He rubbed his eyes again. "I'm pretty," he murmured quietly to himself. "I'm a pretty girl. Aren't I, Matt?"

____________

Matt was unsure how to respond, he knew Abbie had some... issues but wasn't prepared for situations such as this yet, he'd need at least a weeks preparation before he was ready.  
"Personally I prefer you as the handsome man you are, which do you prefer?" Look there's his curiosity, he'd wandered where it'd gone. His self restraint in not asking during their conversation yesterday was a miracle to him.

____________

"You want me as a boy?" Abbie whispered, and tears started to fall down his face. "But they told me I was a pretty girl, pretty, pretty, pretty. I'm a pretty girl. Wait," he paused in wiping his eyes. "You don't want me as a pretty girl." He started crying properly now. "They said I'm a little boy too. I'll be a boy for you." Abbie crouched down on the floor, sobbing.

____________

Matt wrapped his arms around Abbie gently   
"I want you however you're most comfortable, it's not about me, it's about you, okay Abreice?" Abbie being this weak is jarring, Matt had never seen him this weak, anyone this weak really.

____________

Abbie froze. "Abreice? Abreice. I haven't been called that since... since... when? When I was five? Why did they stop?" He sniffed. "My mother and father were very rich, very, very, and I have an identical twin brother. His name is Allen. Allen and Abreice. I'm the older, pretty girl. Mother... Mummy... Mother didn't want two boys. She want a pretty girl to marry off into a rich family, and a good, strong boy to honour the household. d'Autrice. The d'Autrice family name needed to be honoured. Allen always was the favourite, my parents clearly loved him more, but I'm the pretty girl," Abbie paused in his reminiscing to sniff and wipe his eyes. "So when I was five, my mother starting dressing me up as a pretty girl, in dresses and skirts. A few years later, my mother and father divorced. Father took Allen with him to the new house, and I stayed with Mother. She hit me a lot. It was my fault Allen left her, she said. We had a big house and my mother got sick, so money was running out. One night she hit me and I was bleeding, so I ran away. Then," Abbie said, his voice trembling. "I saw the men in the alley. They told me I was a pretty girl and should show other people my body. So I did. I used my nickname 'Abbie' for it. I was good, very good at it. I didn't get told it anymore though. I had to tell myself I was a pretty girl. I was just doing what to men told me to. Most nights I showed people my body. I think they liked it." Abbie's voice broke on the last syllable and he started crying again, covering his face with his hands.

__________

Matt stared in shock, he knew Abbie had a tragic past but he never imagined it was this bad   
"Shh, are we exchanging sob stories? I could do that if you wanted. You need to sober up Abreice, okay? Is there anything you want?" Matt thinks he might have started rambling, it's not important.

__________

"Anything I want? I want... I want Momma," Abbie started crying harder than before, his body shaking with each sob. "I want to tell Momma I didn't mean to... I didn't mean to hurt Momma... I want her back..." he wrapped his arms around Matt, crying into his shoulder, wetting his robes.

__________

Matt wrapped his arms around Abbie tighter, clutching him close. He didn't know what to say, how does one respond to something like that, he has no idea how to deal with this sort of situation, all he knew is that he has to be supportive of Abbie however he can.

__________

It took a while, but Abbie eventually stopped crying and was beginning to feel a lot more sober. "Now tell me," he whispers, his voice hoarse from crying. "What your sob story is."

__________

"Pretty simple really, abusive, very rich dad. He had a fondness for belts and cigarettes, hence what I told you yesterday. He had some rules in the house, I wasn't allowed to make noise in his presence or anywhere he could hear me, I'm actually really good at walking quietly because of that. He used to have these dinner parties with his other asshole rich friends, never any females in that crowd of course, they were just as bad as him. He'd let me attend just to show me off or whatever and he'd keep a tally of things he thought I did wrong, each mistake was another ten lashings from the belt, the first few parties were the worst, I kept slipping up constantly. There was this one time, I think it was once anyway, where for some reason he was the one dressing me for the party. I complained slightly when he did the tie too tight, a small noise but I should've known better by then, so he tightens it as far as he can, blocking off all my air, horrible feeling. He stopped when one of the maids came in, poor woman had to loosen it herself, and deal with me afterwards. I was still expected at the party and some of those assholes I mentioned were fascinated with the bruises. If I remember correctly, and I don't think I'd really forget, some of those men tried to make passes at me, started when I was about eight I think, my father never believed it because how could the people he spent his time with possibly be interested in homosexual sex. You know because I was homeschooled I didn't know what homosexuality was until I got to university and actually met other people, it suddenly made so much sense why I was never interested in any of the girls my dad picked for those arranged marriages. Did I miss anything?... The alcohol is pretty obvious, he was always worse when he drank and it was the only time he used cigarettes. Oh! And I'm pretty sure those rich assholes have videos of me tied to a chair whilst my dad basically tortured me. I think that's all? Maybe at least all the major things that really stuck, but I've had a lot of therapy and time to deal." Matt was pretty sure that was everything excluding his mum and his powers.

___________

"Therapy? Damn. How much did you have?" Abbie asked, cocking his head to the side. He hadn't made a noise when Matt had told him his story, but tears had silently rolled down his face. The thought, just the simple thought of Matt getting hurt like that was just... Abbie never wanted it to happen again. He mentally slapped himself for letting Matt get in so easily when he was drinking. Next time he would do a few extra spells.

____________

"A lot, my friends in university convinced me to and it was possibly one of the best decisions I ever made. It helped, and now I'm more or less a functioning human." Matt wondered if Abbie had ever got help for his past.

____________

"More or less." Abbie repeated slowly. Therapy hadn't ever appealed to him personally, maybe because when he first ran away from his home in France and managed to make it to Britain, he didn't speak any English. It took years for him say a full English sentence without stopping and not knowing the next word. But, it seems like therapy must work, if Matt had went through what he did and is now 'more or less a functioning human'.

____________

They lapsed into silence for a few moments, Matt thinking about what he told Abbie, he'd never really enjoyed talking about it, only a handful of people knew about it.   
"How are you feeling? Better?"

____________

Abbie shrugged. He had a headache coming on, and glanced at the bottle of alcohol he'd left in the middle of the floor. He knew what would ease the pain. He stood up, shakily, and walked over to the bottle.p, however, it just do happened that he tripped on the carpet and fell over.

____________

Matt concealed a laugh and went to help Abbie up  
"Silly, why were you trying to get more alcohol? It's clearly the last thing you need." 

____________

For some reason, Matt calling him silly just made him break down. He burst out crying, hiding his face in the carpet. Abbie decided this wasn't the best position so he sat up and cried like a toddler would after falling over.

____________

"Hey, no please don't cry, okay. Come sit up here" he sat him on the sofa " and I'm going to get you a glass of water, okay?" He got up and poured Abbie a glass of water, he made sure Abbie was holding it securely   
" have you got that? Good, there's no need to cry it's okay."

____________

Abbie shook his head, sniffing. He put the water on the floor and stood up to get the bottle on the floor.  
____________

"Stop, you aren't having anymore alcohol, understand? It isn't good, so I recommend you drink the water and go to sleep." Matt stood up swiftly and picked up the bottle of alcohol, removing it from any place Abbie could reach.

____________

"No." Abbie said, meaning to sound in charge but his words were slurred so it didn't quite have the same effect. "Turn... can you turn the lights off please?" He asked, slumping down onto the couch.

____________

"Of course" he settled back next to Abbie once the lights were out "is there anything else you want that isn't alcohol?"

____________

Abbie turned and straddled Matt, holding him close. He let his hands dangle loosely around Matt's shoulders and used some magic to make it darker. Abbie sighed, and nudged Matt's face with his own, desperate to kiss him but apart of him told himself not to. So instead Abbie nuzzled his face against Matt's.

_____________

"What are you doing?" He could smell the alcohol on his breath and he wasn't okay with it. He needed to stay calm though, it was clear that in his inebriated state Abbie wasn't entirely stable and the smallest thing could unnerve him.

_____________

Abbie didn't answer for a moment; he was unsure of what he was doing himself. "Can you kiss me please?" He asked quietly. He silently cursed himself for asking, of course Matt didn't, not in this state, he was a mess.  
_____________

"I-I really can't, we talked about this remember? Can you- could you please back away?" The smell of the alcohol was too strong, it smelt like fear and pain and Matt's scared that if Abbie tried anything now he might have a flashback of some sort and that wouldn't be good.

_____________

Breathing was a lot easier without the oppressive smell of alcohol, but now he was worried about Abbie, hiding in a corner was not healthy.  
"Come back, I'm sorry, please calm down, try to get some sleep. I'm begging you right now."

_____________

"I AM calming myself down, don't worry." He said, resting his head on his arms, hugging himself tighter. There was a moments pause. He wasn't calm at all. The memories were hitting him, now that he was drunk the dam he built had broken and they were free to attack him. "I... have you ever killed someone?"

_____________

The question struck him by surprise, had Abbie ever killed someone? It was very possible considering the information he had gained yesterday, and considering what Abbie did when he was younger.   
"No, I can't say I have, why do you ask?"

_____________

Again, this was the answer he expected. Normal people don't kill other people. It's just not right. "No reason, I just... I just... I killed her, Matt," Abbie whispered, raising his head to look at Matt, tears in his eyes that were invisible in the dark. "I killed my mother." Tears slid down his face and he made no effort to wipe them.

_____________

"Okay... I'm sure you had good reason, I'm not going to ask about it, unless you're willing to tell me?" Abbie killed his mother and he couldn't even blame him. Matt probably would have killed his own dad by now if he thought he could, would barely blink an eye. That's what he likes to think at least, his dad did loads of terrible things but could he really kill him? Surely that would make him no better than his father.

______________

"I didn't mean to," he said, his voice cracking. "She was just... she told me to t-take my dress off and turn around, so I did and... she hit me, with a chain... again and again and again... I was... telling her, screaming for her to stop and she didn't and then..." Abbie choked on his next words. He vividly remembered the way she stopped, and he'd turned around to see her clutching at her throat like she was being strangled. Her body was thin from her illness, and she didn't have much strength to fight against whatever it was. Abbie had stood in shock, bent over slightly from the searing pain on his back and saw her. He didn't know what was happening but he saw what seemed like a thick rope of shadow around her neck, which seemed to be what she was fighting against. He screamed for it to stop and tried his best to help, but...  
He shuddered against the memory, his screams echoing in his ears.

_____________

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault, it wasn't" he sat next Abbie and leant against him gently, waiting to see if he was okay with it before getting truly comfortable.

_____________

"It was," Abbie countered. "It was my fault." He hadn't got a clue why Matt had come and sat against him, especially after just telling him to back off. He started to lean away from Matt, but realised that if Matt had come next to him, then may he wasn't that uncomfortable. He turned his face into Matt's hair, using his scent as a leverage to stop crying.

_____________

"No it wasn't, what you did was self defence. She was hurting you and your body defended its self, the way I see it you have no reason to feel guilty." He was happy Abbie seemed to be calming down, not crying as badly, barely crying at all. It was certainly an improvement.

____________

"But I loved her. I didn't want to hurt her, I tried to save her but... I couldn't." Abbie had always blamed himself for not being able to save her, and it was even worse when he found out it was him that had killed her in the first place.  
He truly did love her. Not matter how she treated him, he found himself far from hating her, hoping that if he did as he was told, she would love him back. It was for that reason that he always, always carried around a picture of him and her. It hurt him whenever he looked at him, but he just felt like it was right somehow. He had also taken her wedding ring that she always wore, even after his parents divorced. It was a plain silver band, simple yet beautiful. He always wore it himself, on his left middle finger, the hand he looked at most, so he would feel it whenever he wrote, or touched anything. It was a painful reminder, but it was all he had.

__________

"It's not your fault, it isn't, you had no control over it. We aren't having this conversation anymore because you're refusing to see sense and you definitely aren't going to see it while drunk, so we are going to talk about this when you are sober. You can go to sleep and when you wake up I'll give you something to help with the ungodly hangover you are undoubtedly going to have." 

__________

Matt was right, he did need to sleep and during the time Matt was speaking, Abbie felt his head getting heavier and closed his eyes. His entire body relaxed against Matt's as he feel asleep soundly in the corner on the floor.


	5. Chapter 5

Matt went home to get some sleep for himself after Abbie had fallen asleep and he'd taken him to bed. They'd missed dinner so he'd eaten in his own room and went straight to sleep, he felt emotionally exhausted. The next morning was a Saturday so breakfast lasted longer, he waited as long as he could for Abbie but when he didn't wake up he went down to breakfast alone.

________

Abbie had woken up twice in the night to be sick down the toilet, from the alcohol or the nightmares he'd had, he didn't know. When he woke up, he felt like his brain had exploded and had been deprived from water for a month. He groaned and turned over in the bed, falling on the floor with a thump. Not bothering to move, he grabbed the duvet from the bed and pulled it down over him. His stomach churned with the sudden movement and he had to run to the toilet again to be sick. After he was finished vomiting his guts out, Abbie brushed his teeth and walked back into the bedroom, collapsing on the duvet still on the floor.

________

"So what do you want to do today, guys?" Liam asked over his book, one of the textbooks students in the next year had to read. "Anything interesting you found out that we could do?"

_______

Ronnie shrugged. "I don't have a clue, anything you want to do?"   
Alanna, who was sat next to Ronnie, smiled at him enthusiastically. "How about we try out our magic on each other?" Her hair was half in a French plait, and the other half was loose and falling down her back. Her dark eyes were sparkling at them.  
"Sure! Sounds like fun! Hey, what are you reading, Liam?"

_______

"I picked it up a couple of days ago, it's a textbook but it has some really interesting facts and stuff, it's required reading for a few of the years above us. Would you like to have a look?" Liam thought for a moment before realising that he had no idea what Alanna's magic was, he supposed it had just never come up before. 

________

"Maybe later, but let's hurry up and eat our breakfast so we can practice! I wonder if I could beat you, Alanna... Perhaps not." He grinned.  
"We'll see," Alanna laughed. "But you're on!"  
Ronnie and Alanna laughed. "Fine, if I win, you do my homework for a week!"  
"Deal! And if I win, you do mine!"

________

Liam was almost tempted to comment that he wasn't even being considered for winning, but decided against it, there was no point. He put his book away and the three of them went outside, where there was an area specifically practice duels, it was still reasonably early so there were only a few others there, and enough space for them not to have to interact. The duelling area was a large area of grass with circles of smooth stone for duelling, designed in a pattern that shows where each person needs to stand in a navy blue. Bright sun shone down on them accompanied by a light breeze, pleasant weather for a day outside.

_________

Ronnie squinted, looking up at the sun. "Lovely and bright."  
Alanna twisted her hair with her fingers, looking around at the duelling area. She stood on one of the navy circles. "Hey Liam, me and you first?" She asked, coughing to get her voice perfect and getting in the duelling stance. She tensed her back leg so if something caught her off guard, she wouldn't fall as easily.

_________

"Sure, do I get to know what your power is before we start?" He stood in the circle across from her, moving into the stance the book shows for stability and speed in case he needs to move quickly. The air around him was moving and he took a moment to study it, find the best way to use it. He tried to think of a strategy that would work on a general opponent but he won't be able to perfect it until he finds out what hers is.

________

"That'd be an unfair advantage, considering I don't know yours either." Alanna smiled kindly, enjoying the wind on her face. She took a deep breath, and began to sing, concentrating her voice to only affect Liam. Her power was similar to that of a Siren; she could sing and attract people, depending on what she sang about and the effect she wanted to have on an audience.

________

'Lay down, relax, you don't have to be on guard' a voice told Liam and he knew immediately what her power was trying to do, he'd read about it. Wind picked up faster around his ears to block out the sound, her power had less effect on him now so he needed to strike. Controlling wind in front of him he gave it form and pushed it forward, straight into her with as much force as he could summon, but not so much as to tire him out too quickly if this doesn't work.

________

Alanna sensed the wind changed just before it was about to hit her, and so tensed her entire body and covered her face instinctively. She switched to a different song, her favourite song, one that caused confusion. Alanna poured a tiny bit more magic into it, making it slightly more powerful than the previous song telling Liam to relax.

________

What was Liam supposed to be doing? There was something important happening right now, right? It couldn't be that important if he'd completely forgotten about it. He felt his magic slipping, this was important for a reason, he was confused....so confused.....confused...confused. That's it! Her song, that's what's was causing his confusion, he concentrated as much as he could and poured all his effort into an outwards burst of energy, enough to knock Alanna off her feet and let him shake off her song's control.

________

Alanna got up quickly before she lost the duel and edited her song slightly. She changed the lyrics from complete and utter confusion to confuse Liam enough for him to use his own magic on himself. She sang loudly, not using anymore magic so she didn't run out too soon. She extended her lyrics, making them last longer so they couldn't be shaken off and snapped out of without a fight. She was only new to her magic, but she was doing all she could to win her second ever duel (her first was against Ronnie, which she lost).

________

The song's control was already taking effect again so he did the first thing he could think of, he created a fast miniature twister around himself, fast enough to throw off as much magic as possible. His wand was concealed in his sleeve so he withdrew it quickly and pointed it straight at her, he thought of the stunning spell he read about. He released his twister just before he shouted 'stupefy' and brought his wand down, flinging the spell at Alanna.

_________

Alanna had pulled her own wand out of her school socks when she saw the wind moving around Liam and enforced a defence spell just before his spell hit her. She pointed her wand at Liam and used a destroying spell that stopped the wind from flowing around him in the small circle the spell destroyed. Then she started singing again, her most powerful spell that told the victim to give up and lay on the floor, assuring nothing was wrong. She closed her eyes and concentrated, and her lyrics flowed into the wand and shot at Liam, attacking and affecting him directly.

_________

Liam rose his own shield immediately after his spell failed, enforcing it with wind. The shield worked better at blocking out her voice, but her song was still powerful. He racked his brain before coming upon the spell he needed. He brought his shield down and shouted 'silencio' a silencing spell before bring his shield right back up in case it didn't work.

________

Alanna's voice faulted for a movement, but then she began singing again, louder and more powerful than before. Then she raised her wand and did a spell Ronnie had taught her. A torrent of arrows of light shot out and attacked the wind shield at full force. She concentrated on the light she could feel around her, like Ronnie had told her to, and the arrows got more powerful and increased in numbers. Alanna was getting out of breath, she knew she couldn't keep it up much longer.

________

Liam had a thought, one that very well might not work, but her power was slowly taking hold and he didn't have much time. He hit the ground with just his hands and sent a powerful air current through his arms and into the ground. Surprisingly it worked, the ground cracked deep and he made it go all the way across to Alanna so it would crack wide under her feet.

________

She jumped back, then thought better of it and ran forwards instead. She gracefully hopped from either side of the crack and stepped onto the floor in front Liam's navy circle. She looked up at him, gave him an innocent smile and did the light spell Ronnie taught her again. Now that she was closer, the arrows had a better effect. She sang again, and in the close proximity, the lyrics were more powerful than before.

________

Liam smiled back and performed the spell, ropes burst from his wand tip and cocooned Alanna, one gagging her so her singing stopped. She fell to the floor and Liam dropped some of his magic, though still on guard.  
"You shouldn't have come closer."   
________

Alanna blinked a few times, then smirked to herself. Her eyes rolled up in her head, she started gasping and thrashing around in the ropes. She tried her best to pull the ropes off her, making choking sounds as she attempted to pull her hands free to let her breath. Tears streamed down her face, her lungs taking in less and less oxygen as she jerked her head from side to side, trying to breath.

_________

Liam was sure he hadn't made them too tight, and he didn't want to free her if she was joking, so he checked her with his wand (a simple monitoring spell) and found that she was perfectly fine.  
"Cut the act Alanna, you're not choking, which means I win."

_________

Alanna tried to smile at him, which was hard considering she was still gagged. "Well done." She tried to say but it came out in a few muffled sounds. Ronnie ran over to to them.  
"That was great! Well done Liam for winning and Alanna for acting," he joked, creating a light knife to get the ropes off her. He hugged her when she was free. "I knew you were acting, but hell, that scared me. I'm so glad Liam was against you."  
Alanna gave him a pleased smile, hugging him back. "Thanks," she let go and held her hand out to Liam, wiping her fake tears with the other. "Well done, Liam."

_________

He shook her hand.  
"Thanks, you were amazing, you're acting skills almost fooled me. Really impressive" he smiled wide, that had been a lot of fun, more than he expected he'd get from duelling.

_________

Alanna grinned. "Thank you! I was top of the class in drama back home." She released Liam's hand and looked at Ronnie, who was smiling at her.  
They hugged again, holding on longer this time.

_________

Liam averted his eyes, they seemed to need privacy, intimate moments and stuff like that. He walked away and sat by his bag waiting for them to get over what they're doing with each other. He pulled out the book, he only had three chapters left to read, and proceeded to read for a short while.

________

Alanna watched Liam walk away and followed, holding Ronnie's hand and leading the way. They sat down a little bit away from him, still holding hands and looking at each other awkwardly.  
"Um... Do you want to come to my dorm later?" Ronnie asked hesitatingly.  
"Oh, uh... Yeah, sure."  
Ronnie was immediately relived. "Okay. Before lunch?"  
"Yes, okay."  
The conversation was quiet.

________

Liam pretended he couldn't see or hear the conversation and carried on reading, soon enough he had finished it and stood up.  
"I'm going to the library, I'll see you later, okay?" He smiled and walked away.

________

They both nodded at Liam. They decided to go back to the dorms. As they were walking towards the dorms, Ronnie saw his roommates Ren and Cottie, so at least he knew the dorm would be empty.  
When they got there and the door was closed, they looked at each other awkwardly, and Ronnie sat on the bed. Alanna sat next to him.  
They spoke for about a minute, before they both ended up trailing off and looking at each other. Alanna and Ronnie were suddenly aware of the little space between them, and Ronnie was about to shuffle away when Alanna leaned in. Ronnie was shocked for a moment, then leaned in too until their lips met. Alanna's lips were soft, and as soon as Ronnie kissed her, he felt all of the worries in the back of his mind melt away.

________

The library held only the most studious of students, the ones willing to give up their Saturdays to revision. The librarian was an old woman named Miss Pince, silent and always looking like she wanted to bite students head off. She had a tight, pinched face that often looked like she'd just taken a bite out of a particularly sour lemon, her silver hair was tied in a severe bun. There were rumours that students had wandered into the library with overdue books to never return, mysterious disappearances, so the students were sufficiently terrified of her. Liam handed his book over quickly and removed himself from the room.

________

Alanna was the first to pull away, breathless. She rested her forehead against Ronnie's.  
"Wow." She breathed.  
Ronnie hummed an agreement. "So... Uh... Do you, maybe... Want to be my girlfriend?"  
"Yes!" Alanna said, her face lighting up instantly. She wrapped her arms around Ronnie and hugged him enthusiastically. Of course, it was at that exact moment that Cottie walked in.  
"Oh, um... Hello," Cottie stuttered, clearly not expecting a visitor. "I'm... My name is Cottie." He walked over to his bed, blushing and flopped on his bed.   
Ronnie smiled at him. "So, we should probably do our homework." He suggested, and Alanna agreed, and they started their work, Alanna occasionally pointing out mistakes and helping Ronnie.

________

Liam did homework in the Ravenclaw common room until lunch and then went down to lunch with Merlin and Arthur. They were some of the first to arrive and sat at their table, picking at food while the hall filled.

_______

Alanna and Ronnie walked down to lunch together. They ate sat next to each other, smiling every so often. Overall, it was uneventful.  
Up at the teachers' table, Abbie was covering his face with his hands. His hangover hadn't improved much, so he still had a headache. He pushed away his food, knowing that if he ate any he'd throw it up either immediately or in the dorms.

_______

"You shouldn't have let yourself get that drunk Abbie" Matt said quietly, so no one would overhear   
"Terribly irresponsible" he looked out among the students "hm, looks like your son got himself a girlfriend."

_______

Abbie moved a finger so he could look at Ronnie without too much effort. "That's wonderful. And my drinking habits are none of your concern - I normally drink all weekend. Just stay away," he said, stressing the word 'away'. "And maybe you'll have no clue and no reason to intrude on my personal life."

_______

"I didn't ask for your life story Abbie, you gave it to me. And drinking all weekend is unhealthy, you need a better pass time." Abbie seemed in a really bad mood, which was acceptable considering he had a terrible hangover.

________

Abbie sighed irritably. "I did warn you. In my right mind set I wouldn't have told you, so cherish it," he scowled at Matt. "Maybe you need a clearer warning. I'm going to drink tonight, and I'm going out to do it, so don't come looking for me. Oh, and I'm getting some extra money tonight while I'm at it. Enjoy your Saturday night in." He said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his temples.

________

"I'm sorry okay, I acknowledge I shouldn't have but you were so drunk and you were crying, Abbie, you expected me to just walk away? I couldn't do that. So I'm sorry and I'm sorry you told me your past but I don't regret going in there." Matt thought Abbie was being unjustly mean and stubborn, he hopes he'll get over it more once he isn't caught up with his hangover.

________

Abbie rolled his eyes. "Yes, and if I was crying while coming on to you, would you have stayed? Probably not. So next time the door is locked, it's either because I'm out or I'm drinking, so don't ever come near me when I'm drunk again or I swear you will regret it when I'm sober." He crossed his arms and sighed, annoyed.

________

"I did stay when you tried to Abbie, when I told you to stop you went and sat in a corner and I came and sat with you, I didn't just leave. But fine next time I won't come in." How frustrating could one person get? Matt was so done with Abbie's shit.

_______

Abbie looked at him, shocked, but then blinked and replaced his surprise with anger. "Well maybe I wouldn't've come on to you if you didn't come in the room anyway, you obviously saw I'd been drinking and you still decided to stay in the room? That was your fault, not mine, so don't ever bring that up." He looked at his pocket watch. "Well, I'm leaving for work now, don't wait up for me." He said sarcastically and stood up, leaving the hall.

_______

Matt sighed, Abbie was certainly a handful. He stood up and left to his dorms, planning on marking work until dinner. He settled in at his desk with a pile of work in front of him and got to work reluctantly.

_______

Abbie left the castle grounds quickly, making his way to the nearest town as fast as he could, needing to take a breather from all the drama. When he got to the town, he entered the pub he had a part time job in and began working.

________

The afternoon passed quickly, Matt finished his pile of work ten minutes before dinner and made his way down a little early. Others were already there taking their seats, a few teachers, but not many. He took his seat at the head table and engaged in conversation with the care of magical creatures teacher, Mr Hullifay.

_________

Abbie worked hard, and at around 7, he had finished his work and gotten his wages, so he went out into the alley to do what he'd been doing since he was a child - sell his body. Naturally, it was painful yet fun. He enjoyed the moment while it lasted, got the money (he even got tips) and headed back to the castle.

_________

Dinner was uneventful, Matt soon found himself back in his room. For some reason he felt himself drawn to the alcohol he had put in here in an attempt to get it away from Abbie. He was sat across from it staring.  
"Why are people so interested in you? Why do so many people drink you, from what I've seen you're nothing but bad?" Before he found himself choking down the first sip, and then the second, and then the third until he lost count of how much he'd drunk but couldn't bring himself to care, he just wanted more.

________

It took Abbie longer to get back to the dorms, considering the sinful act he'd just committed, but when he eventually got back to the dorms, he entered his own rather than Matt's, not wanting to deal with Matt. Abbie threw his hard earned money on the side and collapsed on the couch, stretching out his aching body.

________

If Matt was capable of coherent thought he might have realised that he was nearing the state of drunk that Abbie had been at last night. He would have noticed his, disturbingly loud, mutterings. Most were incomprehensible but there were vague mutterings of his father, cigarettes and Abbie.

_________

Abbie was dropping to sleep when he heard some mutters from Matt's dorm next door. Curious, he forced himself to stand up and dragged himself out of his dorm outside Matt's. He placed his hand on the door and pushed down, seeing it was unlocked. Confused, he opened the door and saw Matt. Drinking. Abbie was completely shocked for a moment, he thought Matt didn't drink? He closed the door and looked at the mess that was called Matt.  
"What exactly are you doing, Matt?" Abbie asked, giving him a suspicious look.

_________

"Aaaabbie? I'm.... I'm drinking...mmmhm...yep." Matt slurred, why was he drinking? He couldn't remember but it felt.....nice? It doesn't matter. "Would you.....like.... To join?...no...no Abbie shouldn't...not again....it's not good... To drink so much." Forming whole sentences was difficult.

_______

Abbie gave Matt a look. "I've already been out drinking, I told you. And clearly I'm the more responsible one here, I, at least, locked the door. Now," he walked up to Matt and took the bottle out of his hand and placing it in the ground, groaning as pain shot through his legs. He stood up again and placed his hand on Matt's shoulders. "Come on, bed time."

_______

"I don't want to! No....not sleep....but we.....mhm...we could....we could...do the do Abbie....mmmhm...we could" Matt tried to rise to his knees from his position laying across the sofa but stumbled. "The world....funny." Matt laughed but he couldn't seem to stop laughing. "Did you know ...that contrararary to science.... Gravity is helped by....magic. The axle....something about the axle?"

_________

"No, actually I didn't, you tend to say I'm stupid." Abbie said calmly, getting some water and kneeling in front of Matt with it. He held out the glass of water. "Drink this, it'll help you feel better." This position was uncomfortable and painful, but it meant that if Matt dropped the water or fell off the couch, he would be able to catch him.

_________

"I don't want..wat...wat.....this......give me....sex....that's what I want." Matt leaned closer aiming to give Abbie a kiss, or something like that, unfortunately his aim wasn't very good when he'd drank this much, this caused him to break down in giggles. "Did you know... Sex burns....as many claories as running...five...miles."

_________

Abbie nodded. "Interesting. That's great. So if you're about the calories, go run five miles. Come on." He pushed the glass of water into Matt's hand and quickly went into the bedroom to get the duvet. He offered the duvet Matt.

_________

"I'm not interested in...ca...lor....ies.... I want the sex part....pleeeeaaase?" Matt crossed his arms across his chest and pouted "I'll do whatever you want if you gimme it...you like...you like...the blood....thing? I could do that?" Matt looked around for any sharp objects, disappointed to find them all to far away, he doesn't feel like standing, except for sex.

__________

"No, Matt," Abbie said quickly, grabbing Matt's hands so he couldn't hurt himself. "I'll take you up on your offer to do whatever I want, but not now." He threw the cover over Matt, slumping onto the couch next to him, yawning. "Now go to sleep, we can have sex tomorrow, or the day after, or the next day, or whenever, but not right now." 

__________

"But I want it now sir!" Matt squinted at Abbie's face " you're not sir....you're...Abbie....you're nicer.....I'm allowed to want with Abbie...and I want sex! Now!" Matt was very frustrated, it was a very simple ask, just sex, why was Abbie being stubborn?

_________

Abbie raised his eyebrow at the name 'sir', but didn't comment on it. "No. Come on, go to sleep. We can still have sex in the morning, if you so desired." He yawned again, rubbing his eyes. He felt like he was going to fall asleep at any moment, and that wouldn't be good, he might wake up with Matt bleeding everywhere or something, who knew? Abbie pushed Matt's chest down to try and make him lay down on the couch.

_________

Matt tried to resist but Abbie was stronger so he was forced to lay down   
"You're so stubborn.... I'm not gonna...win...but couldn't I give you..a..a quick blowjob...maybe? Please?" Matt tried to make the best puppy dog eyes he could, he wasn't sure it went as he intended.

_________

Damn, Matt was cute when he did that, but Abbie ignored it the best he could. "No, Matt." He wondered what the best way to stop Matt was, he'd told Matt how to stop him when he was drunk, but Matt didn't tell him, probably because he'd never drunk. Maybe, if he kissed him, he'd stop? Not knowing anything better to do, Abbie leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss on Matt's lips, then pulled away. "Are you going to stop now?"

_________

"I...I might....I just" Matt sighs "I really really want sex... Sex is fun...sex is nice...violence isn't nice, not at all." Matt laid on his side and stared at the wall "I'll pain in the morning....it's fine. I knew this....when I started? Stay?" Matt made grabby hands for Abbie.

_______

Abbie let out a deep sigh, giving in. "Fine, Matt. Whatever." He laid in front of Matt so he couldn't fall off the couch and closed his eyes, pulling the duvet over them both and trying to get comfortable. "Is there anything else you want to tell me before I turn the lights out?" He asked, settling down.

_______

"You're nice, goodnight Abbie" Matt fell asleep soon afterwards with his arms wrapped tight around Abbie, hugging him as a teddy bear. 

________

Abbie hummed, using his magic to make his shadow move and switch off the lights. Abbie draped his arms around Matt and it didn't take long for him to fall asleep himself.  
The next morning, Abbie woke up with a sore back for sleeping on the couch. He disentangled himself from Matt and stood up, rubbing his back and groaning. Then he took a quick shower and after that he started making himself a cup of coffee.

_________

Matt awoke groggily a short time afterwards, feeling like his head was being crushed.  
"What...what did I do?" He winced at the sound of his voice, so loud.  
He tried to sit up before collapsing again, everything hurt.

_______

Abbie turned around to look at Matt. "You drank. A lot. I thought you didn't drink." He finished making his coffee and drank it quickly. "Do you want a drink?" His entire body was aching, and his head hurt, but he knew from experience that Matt's would hurt a lot more. 

_________

"Please. And I don't drink, that was my first time, I just wanted to know...I was wondering why...I don't understand the appeal of alcohol" Matt felt like keeling over and wallowing forever in his pain, he's never drinking again, never, it's horrible, so horrible.

________

Abbie made Matt a coffee, then sat next to him on the couch next to him, giving him the drink. He stretched his body out on the couch, half falling onto the floor. "Well, yesterday you clearly wanted the alcohol. It was funny for me, though. You should have seen how you were begging. Oh, can I have that blowjob you offered?" Abbie kneeled in front on Matt, his hands on Matt's knees, looking up at him.

________

"Wha-what do you mean?! I-I what? I don't remember... Abbie how bad was I?" Matt offered Abbie a blowjob... Why would he? He was begging, Matt was apparently begging for sex. How can he not remember all of this, there are bits...but not enough!

________

Abbie gave him a serious look. "I've seen worse in my time, trust me. But it was kinda hot, watching you beg...," Abbie nuzzled at Matt's thigh, looking up at him innocently. "So can I have it? I waited all night..."

________

Matt's breath hitched, he nodded hesitantly. Watching Abbie's face closely.  
"Abbie, please never let me drink ever again?"

_________

Abbie nodded, trailing his hand up Matt's thigh. "Next time I go out, I'll lock my dorm and make sure there's no alcohol here. Now, let me distract you from that, don't worry about it..." Abbie placed gentle kisses on Matt's inner thigh.

_________

Matt nodded and tangled his hands in Abbie's soft hair, pulling gently.  
"Thank you Abbie, thank you" Matt moaned quietly at the attention Abbie was giving to his skin.

________

Abbie slowly slid his hand up Matt's shirt, going further and further up Matt's thigh with his mouth. He pulled Matt closer with his other hand, gently stroking his skin.

________

Abbie's mouth kept travelling upwards and his hands kept exploring further and further, but always avoiding his most sensitive places, the places he needed Abbie most.  
"Abbie...please don't be a tease."

________

"But you were the tease last night, Matt..," Abbie whispered against Matt's smooth skin. "I'm just returning the favour." Abbie avoided Matt's sensitive parts and kissed his way up to Matt's waistband, trailing his tongue on Matt's skin. Abbie kissed up to Matt's neck and sucked on the skin there gently, moving his hand down to the place he knew Matt wanted him most.

________

"Abbie!" He moaned, gripping Abbie's hair tighter in his fingers, tugging without concern.  
"Fuck! God, Abbie!"

__________

Abbie smiled into Matt's neck, satisfied with the noises Matt was making. He lifted Matt up slightly so he could pull down his trousers and boxers in one swift motion. Abbie dropped the clothing behind him and kneeled between Matt's legs, rubbing his hands on Matt's thighs and kissing his lips gently. He bit Matt's lip and pulled back, sliding one hand up his shirt again. Abbie kissed Matt again softly.

__________

"Fucking tease" Matt groaned kissing Abbie, trying to incite a more passionate kiss to no avail.  
"Please Abbie, please stop teasing and get on with it."

_________

Abbie let out a laugh, breathless. "The one time I try to be gentle... And Matt... It was you who offered me the blowjob, yet it's me touching you... Where's my pleasure?" Abbie murmured, pulling Matt's body closer to his own with both hands and moving his hips into Matt's. He let out a moan.

_________

"I'd blow you if we could just get on with it already." His voice sounded breathy, he was rolling his hips to try and get some friction but it wasn't working no matter how he tried, Matt suspects Abbie has something to do with that.

__________

Abbie wanted to tease Matt more, make him beg like he did last night, but he couldn't wait. He stood up and straddled Matt, pushing him into the sofa and kissing him roughly, pulling at his hair and grinding on him.

__________

"A-Abbie, take your clothes off please" Matt was fumbling with the clothes with no success, so he looked to Abbie for help.

________

Abbie did as Matt told him, stripping off all his clothes as fast as he could then straddling him and resuming contact with Matt. He pushed his body into Matt's, kissing him, rolling his hips into him, doing everything desperately, needing to be touched. "Matt...," he breathed out in a whine. "Fuck me, please."

________

"Yes, fuck yes, how'd you wanna do this?" Matt was hungrily devouring Abbie's neck leaving red marks sure to become beautiful large bruises across Abbie's skin.

________

"Blindfold me," Abbie gasped, moving his hips against Matt's. "Tie me up. Bend me over, I don't know, just do it!" He couldn't wait anymore, he needed to be touched or he was gonna lose his mind.

________

Matt picked up his tie from where it had dropped off the side of the couch.  
"Wrists or eyes Abbie?" Matt picked up both of Abbie's wrists and pinned them above his head, without tying them he trailed his fingers down Abbie's arm to cover his eyes. He leaned close and whispered: "Choose."

____________

Abbie whimpered. "Eyes, Matt. Cover my eyes." He groaned, arching his aching back to meet Matt's hips with his own. He tried to move his hands but they were secured by Matt's hands. He couldn't see anything because Matt's hand was blocking his view, so his other senses, his sense of touch most of all, were heightened.

_________

Matt tied it tight around Abbie eyes, making sure he couldn't see anything. He trailed the hand that was covering his eyes further down, following the contours of Abbie's body until he was applying pressure onto Abbie's hole.

_________

Abbie gasped, arching his back at the shock of being touched down there. He tried to shuffle around, to create friction, but he was laid on the couch and there wasn't much room to move about. His hands reached out for Matt, wanting to touch him back, or at least pull his hair.

_________

Matt gazed at Abbie's body, his red marked neck, his lean body, his hips. Which is when Matt noticed the bruises that looked suspiciously like fingertips, as he looked further down he saw they were on his thighs too. Many fingertips, from different men as well. He lightly ran his fingers over the bruises.  
"How did you get these?" 

__________

"Just some... Trouble I ran into in the alleyway on my way home... It's...," Abbie tried to move against Matt's body. "It's nothing... Don't stop." He couldn't tell Matt what actually happened, it would make him stop what he was doing, and that's what Abbie wanted least of all. He might tell him, later, it's not like he was doing anything wrong, after all. Hmm... On second thoughts, maybe not.

__________

Getting the information out of him at the moment is likely going to be impossible or at least taxing, Abbie can be very stubborn. So instead Matt used his power to get what he needed, no matter how his conscience told him it was wrong. He concentrated on the bruises and tried to find the story behind them. He stopped immediately when he saw what Abbie had been doing.

_________

Abbie waited for Matt impatiently. He couldn't see anything, he was still blindfolded, so waiting was all he could do. "Why... Why have you stopped, Matt? Come on..." He said, his voice shaking with anticipation.

_________

"No, we're not doing this." Matt stood up and backed away from Abbie finding his clothes, his head still hurt so he planned to go back to his room and find some hangover potion, he's sure he has some somewhere.

_______

"What? Why?" Abbie asked, shocked. He struggled to sit up and pulled off his blindfold with trouble. "What's wrong?" He pulled his clothes back on, that's what Matt was doing but didn't bother with the shirt. He stood in front of Matt so he couldn't go anywhere. "What happened?"

_______

"You're clearly not telling me the truth about what happened, my head still hurts, we really shouldn't, not now." Matt said hurriedly, trying to get around Abbie and out the door. He felt bad about lying, but what else could he do? He knows that Abbie isn't all he seems, he probably can't be trusted, so he can't know, knowing would only cause problems.

_________

"What? Where'd you get that from? I did run into some trouble in the alley on my way back here, what told you anything different?" He said, losing his patience. He grabbed Matt by his shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. "Tell me why you think I lied."

_________

"A.. A number of things...please let me go Abbie." His head was pounding and all the lights seemed to bright. He couldn't think of good enough excuse for how he knew because of his hangover and Abbie.

________

"No. Not till you tell me exactly what is wrong, and why you suddenly stopped. I think I deserve to know." He held Matt's shoulders tightly, and he was at the end of his tether. He knew if he got angry, he'd do something he would (maybe) regret. Abbie was glaring at Matt, his violet eyes flaring with anger.

________

"You said something about last night...earning some extra money? And you..uh didn't elaborate but...it would make sense and the bruises, so you might have been lying but I knew I might not have been able to get you to tell the truth, you're very stubborn. I didn't want to...I-I'm sorry?" Matt tried to pull back from Abbie but his hands were painfully tight on Matt's shoulder.

_________

Abbie straightened up, still glaring at Matt. "Didn't want to what, exactly? Carry on touching me, with just a few bruises? Like it even matters where I got them from! You're making absolutely no sense, Matt, so please explain what you mean in more detail." His emotions were affecting the environment already, the shadows growing darker and moving of their own accord.

_________

"I didn't want to because there was a chance you might be hurt, I'm sorry it was rude, I was rude, I'm sorry. Can I please leave now?" Matt was shaking slightly, it had been a long time since he'd had to deal with anger this bad and he still wasn't good at it. He could feel himself shrinking away from Abbie.

_______

"What was rude, Matt? I don't understand!" He let out an exasperated sigh. Shadows slid up the wall, dimming the light as it flickered against the shadow covering it. "Tell me exactly what was rude, or I swear Matt..." Abbie didn't even know what he was going to do if Matt didn't make any sense, but he was oh so close to losing his temper, which wasn't exactly the best thing to do in this situation.

_______

"It was rude of me to try and leave with no explanation and to assume things without adequate proof, just please calm down." The darkness was almost as unnerving as Abbie's anger which by this point was practically palpable.

________

Abbie narrowed his eyes. "What, exactly, did you assume? I told you what happened, so there was no reason for your imagination to go running away with itself and tell you something else. Tell me flat out. What. Did. You. Assume." His entire body was tense and he just wanted to get away from Matt so he could calm down, but he also needed to know whatever Matt wasn't telling him.

________

"I thought...I thought you might have gone out to..." He took a deep breath to steady himself, then said very quickly "I thought you might have gone out to sell yourself!" He released his breath and went silent for a moment "I'm sorry."

________

Abbie stood in shock for a moment or two. He released his grip on Matt's shoulders, and his hands swung to his side. He stood in complete and utter shock for a while, before speaking slowly and deliberately. "So you think I lied to you?" A simple question, yet important. His mind was blank and he looked at his shadow which was staring at Matt.

________ 

Matt nodded hesitantly, taking a quick step back from Abbie.  
"Yes, I thought you'd lied to me." He kept his head lowered, not making eye contact.

________

Abbie didn't look at Matt when he spoke. "You know, when I was younger and had only just moved to England, I didn't have a clue what to do. I was too young to work, and I didn't speak any English. Everyone back home in France thought I was dead because of the fire, so no one was looking for me. Yes, as a younger child, I did sell my body, but when I had enough money from it, I bought new clothes, dyed my hair, make myself stronger. I changed, Matt. But then I met Ronnie's mother and it all went to shit. But that's besides the point," Abbie shook his head, turning around and looking out the window. "What I'm trying to say is that I've changed, and me selling my body shouldn't affect you in any way. Why should it? Technically speaking, I'm still a married man, married to someone who isn't you, so what I do with my body is absolutely none of your concern."

________

"Of course, again I'm sorry" Matt swiftly made his way out the door and into his own room, cursing himself for managing to ruin...whatever it was him and Abbie had. And he really didn't know what it was, they'd never been in a relationship together so Matt supposed that just made them fuck buddies, which wasn't something Matt wanted to think about.

_________

Abbie watched him go, not attempting to stop him. He sat on the sofa, looking at his own wedding ring. He was still a married man, yes that was true, but why did he decide to say that? He was divorcing Matty anyway, so it wasn't like that relationship would get in the way. Get in the way of what exactly? Him and Matt having sex? Abbie knew he couldn't settle down on one relationship, it was just how he was, so why was he using Matty against him? He sighed quietly. He needed to get back home anyway, to sort out the divorce papers. He wondered how Matty was getting along. Has he found someone new yet? Maybe. Ronnie's words echoed in his ears. Ronnie was right, they had been through a lot worse, but maybe neither of them had the willpower to carry on the relationship anymore.


	6. Chapter 6

September passed quickly without Matt or Abbie talking to each other, barely seeing each other even. At this point it was Monday 5th October, and the school was decked out with the best Halloween decorations magic had to offer. Singing pumpkins filled the great hall, live bats flew above them. Many cupboards had been enchanted with fake (but very realistic) skeletons or monsters that jumped out when opened. Candles would flicker at random intervals as students walked the corridors, plunging them into darkness. And the armour had been given special permission to roam the corridors as they pleased as long as they caused no fatal injuries.

__________

Abbie quickly walked down the corridor that led to the dorms. He could have sworn he'd taken his work with him for the meeting, but apparently not. At first he thought he'd lost it in the giant stack of work, but it wasn't there or on the floor either, so he was heading back to his dorm to fetch it. He opened the door to a corridor and it was shut by two of the sets of walking armour. He was halfway through the corridor when the door opposite him opened.

__________

Matt ran through the doors leading towards the meeting, he was supposed to be there sooner but couldn't find some of the things he needed so was forced to look for them, when he couldn't find them he had no choice but to run to the meeting late and without some of his important work. The doors were closed behind him by the sets of armour and he ran forward without looking up.

__________

Abbie rolled his eyes as he hurried past Matt, and was about to reach the door when the sets of armour stood in front of the door deliberately. He didn't go near them, he knew what damage they could cause, but without his work, he couldn't use them in the meeting. He turned around and looked at the door he entered through, but that was blocked by the armour as well. What are they doing? Abbie asked himself, annoyed. There was no way out of the room, which meant he was stuck in it with the one person he'd been avoiding the most.

__________

Matt looked at the blocked doors in front of him, and then those behind him, he either had rotten luck or this was planned, he sincerely hopes his luck is just bad because if not some students are going to have to pay. Awkward silence filled the space between him and Abbie, neither having a clue what to say to the other, they hadn't had to talk outside of work for nearly a month.

__________

Abbie turned his back from Matt, towards the armour. "When are you going to let us get out?" It was the only question he could think to ask, he could feel the awkwardness rising despite the entire room between him and Matt. Abbie didn't want to speak to him, he didn't know what to say or what to do, so his main priority was getting out and getting his work.

__________

Predictably the armour didn't respond, they rarely do. Matt thought about asking the ones on his side but it was clear they weren't going to be moving anytime soon, they may have conspired with some students who had learnt the best ways to control them, in that case they wouldn't move until the students aim had been accomplished. The chances were they were going to be stuck in there for a while.

_________

Abbie sighed irritably, and slumped against the wall. He was already late for the meeting, and he didn't feel like making a big effort to get there, so he just sat, his head in his hands, his neck and back aching from falling asleep in the bathroom after throwing up after going out and getting drunk again. He leaned his head against the wall and looked at Matt, waiting to see what he will do.

_________

Matt sat against the wall at the other end of the hall to Abbie, refusing to get close to him. He didn't spend so much time avoiding him to give in at the slightest sign of trouble. He'd wait this out, surely someone would come eventually, it was a school day. But most classes had finished, and this particular corridor wasn't used frequently, it could be hours before anyone wandered down, and even then they might decide to go another route when they see this one is blocked.

__________

Abbie shifted slightly, he felt like he'd slipped down the wall. He closed his eyes, maybe if he fell asleep he'd wake up and the doors would be open. Maybe. He yawned, and rested his face on his arms again, trying to get as comfortable as possible on the cold hard stone floor. It wasn't comfortable in the slightest, but there was nothing else to do because no way in hell would he talk to Matt.

__________

It wasn't obvious at first but soon enough Matt noticed it, the walls slowly closing in forcing them to move closer together to avoid being squashed, they both stood up watching the walls warily.  
"This isn't you is it?" Matt knew it was unlikely but he's also pretty sure the walls don't move on their own.

________

"What? Of course not!" Abbie said, exasperated. Judging from Matt's question, he assumed it wasn't Matt either. He wondered how to stop the walls. He doubted pushing them would help, but if they didn't do something soon they would be close together. "Any idea how to stop this then, brain boy?" He asked, a little sarcastically.

________

"I'd have to know the spell that caused it and there are a number of them. If we choose the wrong counter spell the walls will move together faster. They aren't designed to kill so that's not a worry, but it's not going to stop until there's barely any room." Matt checked his pockets for his wand but found that he'd left it at his room, not expecting to need it. "Do you have your wand with you?"

________

"No, I left it in my dorm, I wasn't exactly planning on being in a situation where I needed it, sorry to disappoint." Abbie rolled his eyes. Pretty soon, at the rate the walls were shrinking, they were going to be close together, which was exactly what Abbie had been avoiding for the past month.  
Soon the walls had closed in a lot, and if Abbie reached out he could touch the opposite wall.

________

"Without our wands there's no way out of this, we're just going to have to wait it out." After he said this the walls started closing in the other way giving them even less space. On opposite sides of the small space they were barely not touching each other.

__________

Abbie closed his eyes, breathing heavily, the walls closing in reminded him of the cellar he was locked in as a child. Shaking off his memories and fears,he sat down on the floor. "So do you have any idea how long we'll be like this?" He asked. He didn't want to stay here for too long, in a tiny room alone with Matt (the armour had left, but they could hear them on the opposite side of the door).

__________

"I have no idea, it depends on how long the spell caster specified." The small space between the them was stifling, the tension was almost palpable. They had nothing to say to each other, they hadn't talked about what had happened a month ago, they had done their best to forget about it entirely, which made this encounter all the more awkward.

__________

Abbie sighed deeply. "Well, is there any other way for us to get out of here?" If the spell castor created the spell to last all night, they'd be stuck here. Alone. Somehow, despite Abbie knowing a month ago, that'd be all he wanted, now he just wanted to leave. The tiny room was no bigger than a cupboard, and it was impossible to sit in a comfortable position. He also had to hold his knees tight so he wouldn't touch Matt.

__________

"The only other way is if you complete the casters aim, but there isn't always one, and even if there is we don't know what it is." Matt sighed heavily, they were going to be stuck here for a long while, no doubt about it.

_________

Abbie nodded. "Alright then. Well, at least this is an excuse to not go to that meeting." That was the only good thing Abbie could pull out of this entire situation. He wondered why the caster, whoever it was, had set this spell on this room and whether they planned it to be him and Matt in the room or not.

_________

"I think I'd prefer to be in the meeting personally." Matt was sure Abbie held the same sentiment, being locked in a room with each at the moment is clearly worse than being in a staff meeting, no matter how boring the meeting might be.

_________

"Oh really? Do you not like being around me that much?" Abbie said, joking slightly. He always hated meetings, but he didn't want to be alone with Matt more, so he would have to agree with Matt on preferring to be at the meeting.

_________

"Considering we've been ignoring each other for a month, I'd say that's a fair assumption." Well it was out there now, it was up to Abbie whether they talked about it. Matt almost hoped they did, just to get rid of some of the tension. They may not get back to where they were but at least it would be less awkward, and that's all he could ask for.

__________

"And whose fault is that? Certainly not mine. So, you know, don't blame me for that. I gave you a fair chance to tell me what happened, and it was you that didn't believe me and thought I lied in the first place, despite me telling you exactly what happened." Abbie shifted, trying to get away from Matt.

_________

"You're right it is my fault, I jumped to conclusions, I know I did, and I know I shouldn't have. I know that the fault is mine." Matt had had a lot of time to think about it, more than enough, and had come to the conclusion that the majority of what happened laid on him, he used his power unjustly and without thought for what might happen afterwards.

_________

"I just...," Abbie thought for a moment on how to phrase it. Despite speaking fluent English, he sometimes got confused on how to say something because of the strange patterns in English. "I don't... Understand... Why you didn't believe me? I told you what happened and you thought I did something else. It's very insulting." Abbie wasn't sure insulting was the word, but he might as well use it.

_________

"I can't explain it, I really can't. I'm sorry I offended you, it wasn't my intention, I feel terrible about it, really." There wasn't anything else he could say without giving away that he used his power on him, which he couldn't reveal. 

__________

Abbie nodded slowly. "Alright then. Well, what do you want to do? There's no point just sitting here. We could... I don't know." He was getting cramps from sitting in such an uncomfortable position and his aching back didn't help the situation in the slightest.

__________

"We could... Are you uncomfortable? Would you like to try and find a more comfortable position?" Maybe being nice to Abbie will help absolve some of the guilt Matt's feeling, which has come back full force from talking to Abbie after so long.

__________

Abbie laughed once. "Like I could get any more comfy in this... Cupboard?" His back felt like it had snapped in two, so he slumped down so his back was flat on the floor and his legs were vertical against the wall.

__________

"I suppose not. What do you think the students planned with a trap like this?" Matt could think of a number of things but preferred to think that students don't think like that, especially not about their teachers. But depending on the year the students are in, what they want could be very bad.

__________

Abbie shrugged, which was hard when you're laying on the floor. "I don't have an idea. Hopefully the spell will wear off soon." He highly doubted it, especially if it was a student that cast the spell, but he wanted it to wear off because he swears his spine will snap in two if he doesn't get out.

________

"Hopefully, but students can be evil sons of bitches sometimes." Standing up was starting to hurt for Matt, but sitting down meant getting even closer to Abbie, something he definitely wasn't okay with just yet.

________

Abbie sat up and twisted from the hips up, cracking his back. He sighed with satisfaction and laid back down, shuffling closer to the wall furthest from Matt. "That's true. Pranks are always fun to play."

________

Matt made the most of the extra space and sat down, trying to take up as little space as possible.  
"Pranks are fun to play, but annoying when you're on the receiving end. I never really made the most of pranks but my friends in uni were annoyingly good at them."

________

"Only a couple of hundred times, I never really used to react so they turned it into a game, each prank becoming more elaborate than the next. Until in our final year I decided to get them all back, one by one doing pranks on each of them. Probably one of the best years of my life, despite all the stress from work." Matt smiled as he reminisced, he needed to meet up with his uni friends again soon.

________

Abbie laughed. "Sounds like you had fun, then." He sat up and looked at Matt, smiling,and for just a moment he felt like the entire kerfuffle last month hadn't happened and they were still talking. But only for a moment, because Abbie looked away and sighed.

________

Matt's smile quickly dropped with Abbie's, an awkward silence filling their conversation.  
"So...what were your uni days like, interesting?" It was so awkward but he didn't know what else to say, he just didn't want them to sit in silence until the spell ended.

________

"I didn't go to uni. I could barely afford secondary school, but somehow I managed to scrape my way through that and college, got a job and things just progressed from there till I was 20 and got my job here." Abbie shrugged. He'd wanted to go to university, unfortunately it never happened.

________

"You must be incredibly good to get a teaching job without going to uni, probably one of the best here. For the most part, although there's a lot of work, just about anybody could make it through uni and get a teaching degree or whatever they wanted, excluding a few subjects. It's a bit of a flawed system." Matt almost found the work they were offering easy if not for the sheer amount that was given.

________

"It was pure luck. I knew a group of little kids, most were about 8, and the oldest was a year younger than me, and I found I was good at maths, and there was a kid who spoke both French and English, so I taught while she translated. It was great fun. She was also a witch, so after I'd done teaching my 'class',I used to teach her magic, and that's where the headmistress saw me. I impressed her, and I got a job. I owe her a lot."

________

"That's incredible, and a far more interesting story than my own." Matt smiled, Abbie's story was heartwarming, who knew he used teach to little kids? In comparison Matt's was boring, he took the regular route while Abbie did a completely different thing.

________

Abbie smiled. "Thank you, but I'd much rather listen to your story about actually learning stuff. It sounds like a lot of fun." University was always something he'd wished he'd done, unfortunately money stopped that ever happening.

________

"But every university student has a similar story, lots of work and lots of coffee, partying for which the amount varies. Student loans but my dad paid for all of my stuff, I don't think he even noticed the money was being spent. Lots of poorly made food and Netflix, I'm currently working on making Netflix available in the school there is no way that this problem doesn't have a solution and after not having Netflix for the entirety of my child and teenage years I need to make up for lost time." The Netflix rant was one he had become familiar with in recent times.

________

"Ah, I see. Sounds like most people enjoy themselves. How did you pay, may I ask? Did you have funds, or did you pay yourself?" Abbie had grew up around a lot of money, but when he moved to England it all changed and he had to fend for himself.

________

Matt sighed.  
"My dad paid for everything, because God forbid his son get a job to pay him through uni. Of course he had to accept that I wanted to work when I got my job here but if I wanted to I could just live off the family money." That was always a sore topic of conversation between him and his dad.

________

"Okay, sorry." He wondered, if he still had contact with his father, would that have happened for him? Probably not, his father never cared for him, not in the slightest. He was probably dead now anyway, not that it matter or he cared. Oh well.

________

"No need to apologise. You mentioned secondary school, what was that like? I've seen it a lot in fiction but I doubt it's actually that much like tv or books." Matt had wanted to go to secondary school but wasn't allowed.

________

"I guess... It's like less intense college and uni? I don't know. It was pretty hard for me, mainly down to the fact I didn't speak any English when I started, so I was seen as the dumb one in the class and was constantly bullied. I don't really know, I never understood what they were saying," he laughed slightly. "To be honest, it was okay, except for the idiots in my class. Going to school, learning English, I have to thank Evie for it all. She was an absolute diamond." He smiled at the memory of her.

________

"Evie? Whoever she is she seems lovely, I can't imagine going to a place where you can't understand what everyone is saying, it sounds incredibly difficult." Matt went on his first holiday when he was in university, and by then he already knew most of the major languages so not understanding the language wasn't a problem.

________

"Evie? She is... Was." His smile dropped and his happiness was replaced with sadness. "She died in childbirth. It was... Absolutely heartbreaking. She was such a talented thing,my first ever friend, if you will. I loved her to bits, so when she died, I thought... I was just..," He sighed deeply, not knowing the correct English word. "I still miss her."

________

"I'm sorry, that must have been terrible, I can't even imagine how painful that must have been." Matt had only ever lost one person, his mother, and he was quite young at the time so it didn't hit him as hard as it would've done for Abbie losing his dear friend.

________

Abbie gave a slow nod. "Evie was the most precious thing. She'd always be smiling and joking, yet knew when to be serious. She was just... Bright, like her magic I suppose. She practiced light magic. We got on surprisingly well to say we had opposite magic. I...oh, I loved her so much. She was the first person I told about my parents. She never blamed me for it, never hated me. That's why... I have to protect Ronnie. Our...our child. She died while giving birth to him." Tears had sprung to his eyes, and he looked down at the floor. He vividly remembered her looking at him, the light slowly fading from her eyes.

________

"Your...she was...oh god I'm so sorry, that's awful" Matt really wanted to hug Abbie, he really shouldn't, he knows it, they've put a lot of effort into making sure that they don't touch at all but screw it Matt might just hug him anyway.

________

Abbie laughed shakily, wiping his eyes. "It's okay, it wasn't your fault. It's the anniversary of her death soon, so I've been having nightmares and thinking about it a lot. Her anniversary is next week, actually. My birthday." He could feel the locket he always wore around this time of year with their picture in against his chest, and he gripped it sadly.

________

"She died on your birthday? I can't even imagine how terrible that must have been for you, are you doing anything special?" He might have leant in slightly towards Abbie, not a hug, he won't hug him, yet.

________

"I'm going to visit her grave, maybe celebrate her life. The usual. She loved her parties, which is why I try to have them... For her anniversary," he rested his head on his arms, hiding his face so Matt wouldn't see the tears slipping down his face. "I think that's why I...can never settle down... I'm just so caught up with Evie, even after almost twelve years."

________ 

"It's nice, that you're still dedicated to her after all this time, but...do you think it's what she would want for you? I know it's not really my place to question but I think she'd want you to find someone else to settle down with, she sounds so nice I'm sure she'd want the best in life for you." The way Abbie talked about Evie was heartbreaking.

________

"I don't know, that's the thing," Abbie whispered, leaning his head against the wall and wiping his eyes. "I don't know what she wants. I don't even know if she'd still be with me, still love me if she was alive today. And I guess that's... That's what hurts most of all. She never had a problem with what I did, as long as I never got hurt. Once she found out that a man had stolen my money," he smiled, the memory washing over him. "She was so adorable when she was angry, but if she was angry at you, you better run."

________

"I wish I could've met her, she seems to have been an inspiring woman." Any woman that could have Abbie talking like that about them must've have been truly special, Matt imagines she would have been an extraordinary woman, life is cruel when it takes people like that.

________

Abbie turned and smiled at Matt. "She was. I think you too would've gotten along lovely." Not only was she caring and kind, but she was very strong. Her light magic had overcome Abbie's dark magic on multiple occasions, in most duels against each other, in fact. It was because of her that he began teaching duelling, even though a lot of duels reminded him of her.

_________

"Do you think? I can only imagine what kind of character she must have been if she could have gotten along well with me." He laughed slightly, with everything Abbie said he just wishes he could have met her more.

_________

"I'm sure. She was top in her class for everything, and would occasionally tell me random facts, I learned a lot. You two could've swapped your most interesting facts." Abbie laughed at the thought of it. Evie was very competitive and wouldn't've stopped until the other person gave up. "Which reminds me, I never asked, do you know why you got your power?"

_________

Matt didn't want to talk about this, he really really didn't. The talk about Evie was nice, it was informative and sweet. Possibly it was a bit deep for their first conversation in a month but it was certainly nicer than talking about his magic in any way shape or form.  
"I think so, I believe it originated from a game my dad and I used to play. It wasn't really a game, that's just what he'd call it, it was more of a test. He'd ask me questions on anything, even things I hadn't learnt yet, or completely random facts and I had to know the answer or I was punished. He's very fond it, I've always thought it was horrible, and pointless, but I did learn.

__________  
"Oh. That's... Awful." He could tell Matt wasn't comfortable talking about this. "But on the bright side, I bet you did good at university, really smart. I guess it also helps when learning languages? I've noticed you're good at them, and know quite a few." Abbie knew this just from their first conversation.

__________

"I think I could speak three different languages fluently by the time I was six, I'm pretty good at languages. I think my friends at uni might have hated me for it a little, I was a quick learner and worker so I always had all my work finished before them with time to spare. They tried to bribe me to do their work a lot before they finally realised I wouldn't." He probably could have lived for the next three years off all the money and food they offered him in bribes.

__________

Abbie laughed. "They tried to bribe you? Why didn't you take them up on their offer? And three languages at six, that's impressive. I guess there are quite a few pros to having your knowledge power."

__________

"Cheating is bad, and I didn't need it. There are a quite a few pros yeah." There are quite a few cons too Matt wanted to say but if he said it he might have to explain it and how could he explain it without revealing what it is he can do. There's no way Abbie would trust him if he knew, and then he'd never be able to find out what's happening between Abbie and the dark lord. Which is of course the main reason for him not wanting Abbie to know, not him wanting Abbie to trust him for selfish reasons.

__________

"I guess, but still." Abbie looked at him, seeing if there are any changes from when he last looked at him properly last month. Not much had changed, his hair was slightly messy, probably from rushing to get to the meeting. After a moment, he realised he was staring at Matt.

__________

Abbie was more than just looking at Matt he was staring, unrelentingly. It was like he was being studied. When Abbie realised what he was doing he looked into Matt's eyes and Matt looked back, the...something...was thick between them. Abbie was leaning forward and so was Matt until their lips touched and they kissed slowly.

__________

It took a second for Abbie to process what he was doing, and the only thing that made him carry on was the feel of Matt's soft lips kissing him back. He closed his eyes and ran one hand through his hair; he'd missed the feeling of it slipping through his fingers. His other hand ran down Matt's neck, stroking the smooth skin.

__________

Matt pulled away reluctantly, and looked into Abbie's eyes. It took a moment before he noticed the walls moving away from them.  
"What is wrong with students these days, this is what they wanted from us!"

__________

Abbie sighed with relief. He could finally stretch his back to try and ease the pain in it. What would happen now between Matt and him? Would they be back to where they started, ignoring each other, or would they be how they were a month ago? He didn't know, but he stood up and held his hand out for Matt to take.

___________

He took Abbie's hand and pulled himself up, stretching out. He opened the doors, which were no longer locked, and looked out into the corridor, there was no one there thankfully.  
"The meeting's probably over now."

___________

"Yeah, probably," he checked his pocket watch and hummed. "Oh well. I'm going back to my dorm." Abbie didn't want to leave Matt, but he couldn't think of an excuse good enough for him to stay, so he'd have to be sure to see him around. He didn't know what else to say.

___________

"Walk back together?" Matt smiled, he wasn't ready to stop talking to Abbie just yet, he's scared that if they stop talking now they might have to wait another month, maybe more, to talk again. He didn't want that at all, their talk today had been interesting.

___________

Abbie smiled, happy. "Sure." He opened the door he'd been heading to before the walls started closing in. He walked out and waited for Matt. Even if they were spending only a few more minutes together, they were more than they had before.

___________

"I suppose if one good thing came from us being stuck in there it's that were actually talking again." He had missed talking with Abbie greatly, the other teachers were fine but he wasn't anywhere near as close with them as he was with Abbie. The most interesting conversation he'd had was when he contacted his friends, and they hadn't been able to talk for long.

___________

Abbie nodded. "Yeah, I guess." Being away from Matt for so long hadn't helped him in the slightest - he had nightmares at night, couldn't eat well and had been drinking and smoking excessively. Maybe this little conversation could get him to stop, he wanted to stay with Matt desperately but didn't want to seem pushy.

___________

They arrived at their dorms but Matt didn't want to leave Abbie just yet, would it be strange of him to ask for more time with Abbie? He didn't care.  
"Abbie, would you like to come in and have coffee with me?"

___________

Abbie hid a smile. "Yes, please. I've run out of it myself." That was a lie, of course. He had plenty of coffee in his dorm, but maybe if he made it seem like he had none, Matt wouldn't think he was being nosey.

___________  
Ran out of coffee? Abbie didn't seem like the kind of person who would ever let himself run out of coffee, he probably lived off the stuff. However if it was just an excuse so they could spend more time together then Matt didn't really care. It occurred to him at that moment that maybe he shouldn't want to use any excuse to be around Abbie, after all he is working for the dark lord, he-who-must-not-be-named, the wizard who is striking fear into many a persons heart. He should turn Abbie into the authorities, explain his powers, maybe demonstrate so they know it's the truth. But it's as he said when he first found out, he needs to get more evidence. But he starting to realise that really is just an excuse, he simply doesn't want to turn Abbie in, and it's selfish.  
"Really? Well please come in."

___________

Abbie walked in, and the dorm seemed no different than it had one month ago. It was all the same. He hoped that this wouldn't be the end, that him and Matt would talk again after this because he was so sick of being alone. He didn't want to leave Matt, but he didn't want to get in his way, either. He sat on the couch, remembering what had happened a month ago on this sofa, how Matt thought he lied. Which he did, of course, but he couldn't tell Matt that. He supposed that, selling his body, was his own kind of therapy.

____________

Matt went into the kitchen and pulled out two cups and started boiling the water.  
"How do you have your coffee Abbie?" He leant over the kitchen counter into the living room. Seeing Abbie in his rooms again was a pleasant sight, but one that reminded him of the last night they spent together.

____________

"Strong, no milk, no sugar, please." It was less effort like that, which is probably why he had it so often. He rubbed his head and sighed, looking at Matt. "So how are you?" Abbie asked, hoping he was okay. He wanted the lingering awkwardness to disappear, so they could slide back to being how they were before.

____________

"I'm good, how are you? Anything planned for Halloween? I'm going home for that weekend." Matt made their coffee, his much sweeter than Abbie's. It was strange doing normal things like drinking coffee together again, this morning he had been sure they'd never do anything like this again.

____________

"I'm fine, thank you. I'm going back home with Ronnie on Halloween, but I'm only staying for a day or two, then I'm coming back up here. What about you? Do you have anything planned?" Abbie was only going back to take Ronnie and to sort out the divorce. After that, he was a free man. Yay.

____________

"My dad's throwing a Halloween party, he has one every year, and I have to attend. It's usually a bore but occasionally something interesting happens. Honestly the only reason I don't put up more of a fight about going to these things is that they make amazing food for them. The food at home is always incredible but it's especially good at parties." He brought the coffees over and sat next to Abbie.

____________

Abbie looked at Matt. "Is going to your dad's a good idea?" He asked doubtfully. He took the coffee gratefully and sipped it. He was stupidly happy that Matt had sat next to him, and their legs were just an inch away from touching each other. He stared into his coffee, not wanting himself to become distracted.

____________

"I go every year, multiple times a year, it's fine. I lived with him for like eighteen years or something so going for a weekend is no problem. I go for a week at Christmas, compared to that Halloween is nice, most of the weekend is taken up by the party so we barely see each other." Matt wasn't sure why Abbie would even ask that, Matt wouldn't go if it wasn't okay...well he didn't really have a choice but there are certainly some that he could get out of if he put some effort into it.

____________

"Oh, okay. Sorry." If Matt was so sure about seeing his dad, then let him, but he was still wary. He finished his coffee while it was still really hot and placed it on a coaster on the table. He leaned forward and rested his head on his hands.

____________

"No need to be sorry. I know I really shouldn't see him anymore, if I could avoid it I would. Would you like another drink?" Matt sipped his own, it was still a bit too hot for him, he couldn't drink it like that so waited for it to cool down.

____________

"I... Yes, please." Drinking coffee was not the best idea, he hasn't been sleeping well recently anyway, so he'd been trying (and failing) to not drink it so he could sleep. But if drinking coffee meant he could stay with Matt longer, he was willing.

____________

Matt got up to make more coffee. He could sense the awkward silence that was sure to show its self soon and racked his brains for a topic they could talk about, but came up short. He had hoped when they were talking the flow they had before would reappear but alas it was not so.

____________

Abbie watched Matt make the coffee, not knowing what else to do. It was a moment later that a teacher appeared in front of him by using a spell that allows the castor to speak to the person they want to without being there in physical form.  
"Abbie? There you are," the teacher said. "There are students split into teams and are duelling, perhaps you could come and stop them?"  
Abbie sighed and stood up with effort. "I'm coming. Where are they?"  
"In the main hall. Oh, and your son is among them."  
Abbie blinked in shock. Not giving Matt a second thought, he rushed out of the dorm and to the hall.

_____________

Matt heard the message and ran out after Abbie, interested to see what would happen next. It's very possible that this duel could be being caused by the book Abbie placed in the library, he should probably take it out but the chances are he won't be able to tell which is it among the others like it. If the duel was caused by the book then he wants to watch how Abbie reacts.

______________

Abbie could hear the duel before he could see it, just over a dozen students were in the main hall, yelling and throwing spells. About half of them were doing it properly, the rest were not as careful with their stances or spells. He saw the teacher who called him and walked over to him.  
"What happened?"  
"Nothing major," the teacher replied. "I think it just started off with a few insults and quickly turned into... That." He gestured his hand towards the students.  
Abbie sighed heavily, and the lights went out. A few students shrieked, and those with bright spells, like fire, used it to target their opponents. In the dark, he could sense Ronnie's light magic. He controlled the shadows so that the students still fighting were being restrained by their own shadows. Then the lights flickered on again. Students were sprawled across the floor, some pinned down by their shadows. Abbie rubbed his head. Using his magic, no matter how little he had used, had given him a headache.

_____________

The scene had been chaos, and from what he could tell if Abbie had stopped them any later the spells could have evolved to ones that would cause serious pain. Matt walked among the students, checking none had any bad injuries. There were none that would cause lasting problems or scars but some of the spells had strange outcomes resulting in students with elephant trunks for noses, blue skin, orange hair, extra eyes or fingers. One had hair growing from every part of (her?) body.

______________

He slumped against the wall and released the students of their shadows. He closed his eyes and heard footsteps, so he opened them again. It was Ronnie.  
"Are you going to see Dad in the holidays?"  
"Yes. Are you coming?"   
Ronnie nodded, then sat next to Abbie. "I've got a girlfriend."  
"Congratulations." Abbie couldn't help sounding sarcastic - he wasn't a very enthusiastic person.  
"I think I might move to Germany with Dad next year." Ronnie muttered.  
Abbie had been waiting a month to know Ronnie's answer, and even though he knew Ronnie wouldn't stay with him, it hurt to know his only child didn't want to be with him.  
"That's okay. I'll speak with Matty about it later."  
"Okay." It was a short conversation, and didn't exactly help build up their father son relationship, but it was the first time they'd spoken since Abbie kissed Matt for the first time.  
Ronnie got up and left.

______________

Matt glanced at Abbie and Ronnie for a moment before continuing with his work, he knew most of the counter spells so was helping the school nurse fix up the easily fixable. He finished getting rid of another elephant trunk and then turned a boys hair back from orange to brown. When he looked around he saw most were done and the rest could be dealt with by the nurse, so he went over to Abbie.  
"You don't look too good, is this from using your magic?"

_______________

He shook his head. "I'm fine. Are you done?" Abbie stood up and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. "Let's go." He started walking back to the teacher dorms and his stomach churned. He covered his mouth with his hand and stopped walking for a moment, but when the feeling passed he headed back to the dorms, quicker than before in case he felt like throwing up again.

_______________  
"You're not okay, Abbie. You look really pale, have you been eating and sleeping properly? You should probably lie down for a bit." They arrived at the dorms and Matt opened the door to his.  
"Would you like to come in?"

_______________

No matter how he felt, he did not want to pass up the opportunity to spend time with Matt. "I'm okay, don't worry. It's probably just the light making you think I look pale. It's fine, I'm fine, thank you." Abbie walked into the dorm.

_______________

Matt watched Abbie carefully, there was an easy enough way to find out how Abbie was truly feeling, he could use his powers, but if he did how does he explain his behaviour afterwards, that's always been the problem before. But this is for Abbie's health not information, or to check if he's lying to him, it's for Abbie's own good. So Matt laid a hand on Abbie's arm and concentrated on reading him. He felt Abbie's exhaustion, and it was terrible, Abbie probably shouldn't even be stood up or walking around.  
"You should lie down, would you like...soup? I could make you soup or some other food if you'd like."

_______________

Abbie shook his head and sat on the couch. "Stop worrying, I am absolutely stupendous. Perfect. Fabulous. Um... Wonderful?" He'd run out of adjectives, so he decided to change the subject. "You did well, helping those students from the duel. Although, if their stance had been correct and they were concentrating, it wouldn't have happened." 

_______________

"No, we aren't changing the subject, you aren't fine, it's clear just by looking at you. You need to sleep Abbie, please?" Why was Abbie just brushing it off? He needed sleep, he was so tired, so why wasn't he just doing as Matt said? It wasn't like he was asking something impossible, he was asking Abbie to help himself.

_______________

Abbie let out a deep sigh. Why was Matt so worried all of a sudden? He's fine. He stood up and walked over to Matt and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Don't worry about me, Matt. I'm fine, see?" He did a little spin on the spot, then put his hands back on Matt's shoulders. "I could go run a marathon. Swim a mile. Dance for hours. I am perfectly fine. Okay?"

_______________

Matt didn't want to fall out with Abbie again, which could very well happen if he didn't drop it, but he wanted Abbie to look after himself, and was that too much to ask? Abbie may be able to move but it didn't make him okay it made him stupid, all he needed was rest, and he was stubbornly refusing for no reason.  
"Why won't you just do what I ask? Is it really such a hardship? All I'm asking you to do is rest because I don't think you look well."

________________

Abbie pulled Matt over to the couch and sat him down. He crouched down in front of him so they were eye to eye, staring at each other. "Well then, maybe you should look again." He would hate to argue with Matt again, but he didn't want to sleep. He wanted to spend as much time with Matt before he actually felt like sleeping. Which he didn't, mainly because he was worried if he fell asleep, he'd have more nightmares. Matt had no reason to be worrying about him.

________________

"I am looking, and I still see you looking ill, why won't you sleep Abbie, even if you aren't tired won't you do it just to appease me?" He pleaded with his eyes, begging Abbie.  
"I'll stop pestering you about looking after yourself if you sleep, but I will not drop it."

________________

Abbie closed his eyes. The last time Matt had looked at him with those eyes like that was when he was drunk. "Fine." He sighed, giving in. Since when did he become so willing? He curled up on the couch, using Matt's thighs as a pillow and very soon dropped off to sleep. Of course, soon followed the nightmares.  
This one was one he'd been having frequently. It was when Ronnie was being born. Evie was laid on the hospital bed, gripping Abbie's hand and moaning. She'd been screaming and crying the last few hours, childbirth wasn't as quick as it was in movies. Her golden hair was plastered across her forehead with sweat, her eyes were full of tears and her hand holding Abbie's had been squeezing so tightly blood was dripping down it. Abbie had leaned his forehead down and rested it on hers.  
"It'll be okay, Evie, I'm here." He whispered to her. The doctors were giving orders and advice to Evie, trying their best to help her.  
Evie looked up at him, he vividly blue eyes wet with tears and yet somehow still sparkling. "Take care of him, Abbie, please."  
"I... I will, Evie. I promise."  
Evie smiled faintly, her hand gripping at Abbie's becoming slack. "Thank you, Abbie. I love you." And at that moment, when they heard their baby's cries, Evie's eyes lost their glow for the first time and the heart monitor besides them stopped.

_________________

When Abbie fell asleep Matt had an idea, not a very good one though. While Abbie was asleep would be the best time to get information from him on the dark lord and his followers, and he wouldn't need any explanation for his freezing. So he laid his hand on Abbie and concentrated on the dark lord and anything related to that. Unfortunately he was concentrated enough because instead of memories he found himself in looking at Abbie's dream, his dream of Evie, on the day she died. Everything about her was light, her hair, her eyes, she was beautiful. Matt tried to stop looking at the dream but before he could he saw her die, then the dream faded and he found himself somewhere else. 

_________________

He remembered the rushing doctors, pushing him out of the way to try and revive her. He remembered Ronnie being shoved into his arm. He remembered Ronnie not crying anymore, just looking up at him with blue eyes.  
For days after Evie's death, Abbie had hated Ronnie. He refused to go near him, so it was Matty who graciously feed him, changed him, everything. Abbie didn't know why he ignored Ronnie, perhaps he thought that by pretending he didn't exist, he would disappear and Evie would come back.  
Evie's parents were less than pleased with Abbie. They insulted him, hurt him, did everything they could to let Abbie know they hated him. Which he already knew. He wasn't even allowed to go to her funeral, so Abbie had gone there after the service and cried for hours on his own.

_________________

He was in a dark chamber, lavishly furnished from what he could tell. He was one in a line of figures covered by black cloaks that obscured their faces, in front of them was the dark lord, these were his most loyal supporters. People willing to do anything for the dark lord, people in positions of power, people with money, people with all of the above.   
"Carstair, how are things progressing at the ministry." The rough, hissing voice of the dark lord asked. The man named Carstair replied "the minister confides everything in me as his deputy minister, he doesn't suspect a thing. We have spies in major positions in most of the important departments and we are close to having a position in the education department from which we can affect the schools more efficiently." The man stepped back into line.  
"D'Autrice please come forward." He took a step forward, he suspected what was coming now. "I see no progress in the state of the school, and it is vital we stop that school before it can do any major damage to our plans. The headmistress is strong enough as it is, we do not need her to gain anymore power." The dark lord raised his wand and pointed it at him, he cried "Crucio!" And blinding white pain stabbed him all over, he fell to the floor in agony.

Matt came to himself with a gasp, he had felt the pain just as Abbie had, it was all consuming and then it was over, the only evidence his laboured breathing and the ghost of a sting.

_________________

A few hours later, Abbie woke up from the best sleep he'd had in weeks. His head was still on Matt's lap. He rolled over and looked up at Matt. "What time is it?" He asked, sitting up. His stomach didn't like the movement so Abbie had to rush to the kitchen sick to throw up. However, he hadn't eaten today so all he vomited was liquid and acid. He groaned and rested his arms on the counter, steadying himself. Getting up so quickly had made his head dizzy.

__________________

Matt hadn't been able to sleep after what he saw, the information given as well as the pain. After all the ministry had said denying that the dark lord (as he called himself) had any power or influence, denying he would be able to hurt the general population in any way. Then to hear that the ministry was full of spies, the deputy minister, advisor to the minister himself was in fact one of the dark lords most loyal supporters. And the methods he used, using an unforgivable curse on someone when he wasn't getting what he wanted from them was simply barbaric. When Abbie awoke it startled Matt who had been lost in thought, more so when he ran to be sick in the kitchen sink.  
"Are you okay?!"

___________________

He moaned. "I'm f....fine. What time is it?" He repeated. Abbie's stomach growled, indicating he was hungry. His hands were shaking but somehow he managed to get a glass and pour himself a cup of cold water, which made him shiver. He drank it and wiped his forehead, which was starting to sweat.

_____________

"It's seven, do you want some food? We could go down to the great hall, but I doubt you want to right now." Abbie looked like he might fall over and not be able to get back up, Matt was just hoping he wasn't going to throw up again.

_____________

He felt like he was going to collapse, he needed some food. "Do you... Have any dry food, like crackers or something?" Dry food would be better, and the last thing Abbie wanted was to go into the great hall for some food. Abbie's stomach was cramping and twisting about, he retched again but nothing came out.

_____________

Matt hurriedly looked through the cupboards for some dry food and found a packet of crackers near the back, he ripped the packet open and handed them to Abbie.  
"Here take these, do you need anything else?"

_____________

Abbie took them gratefully, placing them on the counter. He straightened up, took a few deep breaths, then turned and smiled at Matt. "I'm fine now, thank-you. Just a passing illness, nothing more. Don't worry." He tried to keep his smile sincere but it turned into a grimace of pain as his stomach felt like it was being stabbed repeatedly with a knife.

_____________

"Passing illness?" Matt knew for a fact it wasn't, he would have seen it when he used his powers, this was caused by Abbie neglecting to look after himself, and it wouldn't pass like an illness, it wouldn't pass at all if he didn't start to take care of himself again.

_____________

"Yes, yes. Thank you." He started to walk back towards the couch, but his head spun and he stumbled, almost falling over. He leaned against the wall and laughed at himself quietly.

_____________

"You should get some more sleep after you've eaten, you still not doing good. I might able to go the nurse and get some medicine that could help if you'd like me too." He went to Abbie and supported him to get him back to the couch.

_____________

"No!" He said suddenly, pulling Matt down next to him. "I'm fine, just stay here with me. Who knows, if you leave I might die. I'm sure you'd hate for that to happen, I'm just too amazing to leave your life." Abbie tried to get rid of the seriousness by joking.

_____________

"If you say so, but I'm sure I could leave for what would be at most ten minutes without you dropping dead. Although you're right, you dying would most probably throw me into the deepest pits of despair, from which I would never recover." Matt was only half joking, because he honestly believes Abbie dying would be devastating to him.

_____________

"Ah. Well if you left me, even for a mere ten minutes, I'm sure I'd lose my will to live and die of sadness. And when you find me, collapsed on the floor surrounded in grief, you would be thrown into the deepest pits of despair, with only the memories of your... Of me keeping you sane. It would be tragic." Abbie had stumbled, he didn't know what he was going to call himself in Matt's eyes.

_____________

What was Abbie about to say before he cut himself off? What did he see himself as to Matt? Matt wasn't sure which words they would use, they'd never really talked about it but considering how things had been between them and that they had never talked about it or confirmed it they really were only fuck buddies, but Matt didn't see it that way.  
"I'm think you caused my insanity more than helped it my sanity, Abbie. But that's far more fun."

____________

Abbie laughed, turning and facing Matt. "I'm glad to be of service, I shall always be here to drive you up the wall, it is one of my few pleasures in this grim life of teaching students. Yes. Getting on your nerves is the thing that gets me out of bed in the morning, it truly puts a smile on my face. I love annoying you."

____________

"Although it is nice to know you don't entirely detest my presence, knowing that you enjoy annoying me is both enlightening and irritating. However I must say in this life of students and work you are my one solace, so for that I thank you." Even though he knew that Abbie was joking around, hearing him say the word 'love' was exhilarating.

___________

"Always. I shall always be here to push you further to the brink of insanity along with the students. And of course I love being around you, what could be better than annoying someone? It's something I truly enjoy in life, I'm grateful you're here for me to annoy." Abbie smiled, tilting his head and looking at Matt.

___________

There it was again, that word, love. It had him thinking, did he love Abbie? Maybe not yet, but he was certainly close, too far to go back. Loving Abbie would certainly not be the best idea, every time he thought about it he came back to the fact that Abbie was working for the dark lord, and which ever side came out on top it would mean nothing good, because either way he wouldn't have Abbie. He also remembered he'd need a way of confiding in someone, maybe the headmistress, about the possibility of a war coming, which was seeming more and more likely.  
"Well I'm grateful I can be here for you to annoy, because my one goal in life is to help you be happy, I have no other ambitions."

____________

"Good. All you should want in life is to please your queen. Um... King." Abbie brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes and looked at Matt. What exactly were they? They'd never spoken about it, he wondered why it had never came up in conversation. Probably because Matt thought they were just fuck buddies, Abbie told himself, so there was no need to. He didn't know what he felt for Matt, he'd never spoken much about his feelings to anyone, or understood them, so there was no way of knowing, but he wanted to know what Matt felt for him. Which was most likely nothing, Abbie silently muttered.

____________

"Well my queen, how best could I please you now?" He smiled teasingly, this was fun even if it did pose a few uncomfortable questions about the status of their relationship.

____________

Abbie couldn't help it, a blush spread across his cheeks at being called queen. "I, uh... I don't know...," He stuttered. "Maybe by forgiving me? I'm sorry for getting so angry last month."

_____________

"Already done, I forgave you almost immediately after that fiasco, because it was kind of my fault, and after it was done and I was thinking straight I could see that. You had every right to be angry, I was being ridiculous, I accused you of lying when I had no proof." But he did have proof, that had been the problem, he knew what he was saying was true and Abbie just refused to tell him the truth, and when he realised he wasn't going to tell he should have given up.

_____________

"Oh, don't blame yourself. It was my fault as well." He smiled, desperately wanting to reach out and touch Matt, just on the face, but not wanting to seem weird, so he kind of raised his hand then dropped it back on the couch between them. They probably needed time to be with each other but not touching each other, that'd be best, Abbie decided, but he wasn't sure if he could.

_____________

"How about we agree to take equal blame, and then forget it ever happened?" Matt shifted a little closer to Abbie, trying his best to keep it discreet.

_____________

"Okay, yes." His hand was just touching Matt, and it sent his heart racing. They were so, so close, but Abbie didn't think Matt wanted them touch so it took all his self control to stop himself pouncing on him.

_____________

"Good. You know I could fall asleep here, I'm really comfortable." And that was testament to how far gone he was, he shouldn't trust Abbie enough to fall asleep around him, not knowing what he knew. If Abbie suspected he knew anything at all, if he gave away even the slightest detail then Abbie could try to find out more, there are plenty of spells he could use, and found out how much Matt actually knew. Which though might not be loads yet it was certainly enough for him to be dangerous if he decided to release some of the information he knew.

______________

Abbie gave a small smile, and his eyes drifted down go Matt's lips, wanting to kiss him again so very much. He could feel himself move closer to Matt, and he cursed himself for making it obvious, but in his ill state he couldn't think clearly.

______________

Matt moved closer as well, eyes flicking down to Abbie's lips, but he really shouldn't this was how it had been last time, them barely talking but spending their time doing plenty of other things, and when they did talk it wasn't anything interesting, nothing important. But he couldn't stop himself, he was going to do it anyway.

______________

He knew he shouldn't kiss him, they should build up their relationship before they did anything like this again, like normal people, but the only thing Abbie was thinking about was feeling Matt's lips move against his own, and tasting him again. Slowly, he leaned forward until they were inches apart, looking at each other, and lost any shred of self control he had left and kissed Matt.

______________  
The kiss was heated and quick, compared to their usual anyway, and the taste of Abbie was exquisite, but soon after it started they pulled away.   
"That was nice." Matt said breathlessly "I really missed that."

______________

His breath was shaky, he really hadn't wanted to pull away. Abbie picked up Matt's hand and placed in on his cheek, leaning into it. He closed his eyes and sat quietly for a moment, them he moved Matt's hand and kissed the palm of it gently.

______________

Matt's breath hitched.  
"Abbie?" Matt wasn't sure whether he wanted to go further or not, the rational part of him knew that they should take things slow, the other part wanted to dive in headfirst again. However, as always, he follows his rational side and resolves not to go any further, keep it innocent.

______________

"Mm?" He hummed against Matt's hand. He kissed each finger individually and carefully. He threaded his fingers through Matt's and held his hand tightly. Abbie kissed the top of Matt's hand, letting his lips linger for a moment before holding his hand up against his face again.

______________

Using their intertwined fingers Matt pulled Abbie to him, embracing him in a hug.  
"Can we just stay like this?"

______________

Abbie nodded, shifting around to get comfortable and resting his head on Matt's shoulder. He absentmindedly traced patterns on Matt's hand with his fingers, drifting closer and closer to sleep, hoping that this sleep will be as relatively peaceful as the last.

______________

Matt fell asleep quickly, holding Abbie close to himself. He dreamt of stupid things, things that made him happy.


	7. Chapter 7

Ronnie and Alanna were sat together in the Gryffindor common room, finishing their homework. Thanks to Alanna, Ronnie's grades had been improving and he also got his homework in on time, so no detentions for him. They were about to meet Liam out in the garden next to the cherry blossom tree, but they had about five minutes before they should leave.

_____________

Liam was walking down to the grounds with Merlin and Arthur, who were planning on studying by the lake, he had planned to meet Ronnie and Alanna underneath the cherry blossom tree. Although Liam was of course happy that Ronnie had a girlfriend, he found himself frequently third wheeling for them. When they left through the heavy front doors they could see a large crowd of students around one student who seemed to be selling different objects.  
"That started this morning right? Some students were going around selling jewellery and joke items, apparently there are some really cool things" Merlin was looking at the goods with interest.

_____________

"I'm surprised about how many secret passageways there are in the school. I knew there'd be a lot, even though quite a few have been blocked up." Alanna commented as they headed down the moving stairs.  
"I was too. Have you found any yet? I've found one." Ronnie replied as they waited for the stairs to connect to the hallways they needed.  
Alanna smiled. "I've found three, I managed to get some older students to tell me them."  
"You used your magic? That's cheating!" He laughed.  
They were outside now, holding hands and strolling down the hill to the cherry blossom tree.

_____________

"Hey Arthur should we get some, I've been watching that whole rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor and was thinking of pulling off a few pranks" Arthur seemed enthusiastic about this idea "want to join in Liam?"   
"That sounds fun, but I wouldn't buy them from the school. I've noticed a couple of the people, especially the girls who bought jewellery, have been admitted to the infirmary with peculiar symptoms."

______________

They reached the tree and sat down against it, being early meant they could talk on their own for a bit.  
"So... What's your least favourite subject?" Ronnie asked.  
"Potions. Like, I love the thought of what you're doing and the practicals are fun, but the teacher is... Cruel. Worse than my math teacher in year five." Alanna said seriously.  
"Really? What's your favourite subject then?"  
"I love supportive magic and MPE is okay."  
Ronnie laughed. "You said at the start you weren't looking forward to MPE."

_______________

"Really? Well there have been tales of the the older students playing pranks on us first years, I'm not really surprised, but you'd think they wouldn't be selling to the whole school." Merlin and Arthur seemed disappointed "See you later okay?" Arthur waved and him and Merlin went down to the lake, Liam went the other direction to go to the tree, Ronnie and Alanna were already there.

_______________

"Hiya Liam!" Alanna smiled cheerily.  
"Hi Liam," Ronnie said happily. "How are you?"

________________

"Good, did you see that guy over there selling stuff?" Liam sat next to Ronnie and pulled out his wand, they had to practice for charms homework what they'd been learning in lesson.

________________

Alanna nodded. "It's really dodgy, my friend is in the infirmary because of something she bought. At least, that's what the nurse said."  
"Why don't the teachers do something about it then? Having students put in the infirmary mustn't be good for reputation or something."

_________________

"They can't prove it really is the goods students are selling, the teachers are encouraging people not to buy them, but the business sprung up so quickly the word hasn't gotten around, I imagine there'll be a notice tomorrow banning the selling and buying of unapproved goods from students. But the chances are it will just go underground the selling won't stop."

__________________

Ronnie sighed. "Surely the headmistress can stop it or prove it's the goods in some way, she's one of the most powerful witches alive. Although, I bet she has a million other things to take care of."  
"Mm," Alanna hummed. "That's true, but surely the safety of her students should be high up on the priority list."

__________________

"She always makes time to come to dinners so I imagine we'll get a talk about it at dinner." As he said this Liam had successfully made the leaf he was practicing on levitate high in the air. This particular exercise was useless for Liam because he didn't need a wand for it, but if the rest of the class had to practice it so would he.

__________________

"I guess. I love the amount of food you get at dinner, or any other meal in fact. And there's so much variety. I can't wait for the Halloween feast. The decorations are amazing, but the armour are kinda creepy." Alanna said, playing with the grass.  
"Mhm, I guess. Hey, did you find out if you can join the choir, Alanna?"  
"They don't know yet," Alanna said mournfully. "Because my words still have an effect even when I don't use magic."

__________________

"That's a shame, do you think they'll find a way around it?" Liam doubted it, from what he's read it's very difficult to stop someone's natural magic working, especially one like Alanna's, it would be easier for Alanna to stop it but that requires a lot of practice. However the headmistress is incredibly powerful, Liam had read up on a lot about her, so it might be possible for her.

__________________

Alanna shrugged. "I don't know. I certainly hope so, or I'll just have to hum the lyrics instead of singing. Which sucks. I've always loved singing. I was in my school choir, and I won the school talent show."  
"Well done." Ronnie smiled at Alanna.

__________________

Third-wheeling sucked, but Liam found himself doing it more and more often and with no one else he was as close with as Ronnie. He concentrated on his leaf again, trying something they'd been doing in transfiguration, making it turn different colours. The teacher had suggested they try to turn things more than one colour, so he turned half of it blue and the other half yellow.  
"That's nice."

__________________

"Oh, that's cool Liam. How do you do it? I always end up burning mine whenever I try." Ronnie sighed. Alanna giggled.  
"You just suck at magic in general, don't you?" She smirked.

__________________

"I imagine you'd suck less if you actually listened to the teacher, rather than relying on Alanna to help you afterwards. That's how I learnt." Next he tried to enlarge and shrink the leaf, based on the book they were working through they'd being doing that in a couple of lessons time, it was slightly more difficult than what they'd been attempting so far, but not by much.

__________________

Ronnie scowled jokingly. "I do listen to the teacher, with the exception of Mr Axfield, and Alanna just helps in what I don't know, which is a lot, yes, but my grades have been improving so there's nothing to worry about in that department."

__________________

"I really think you should cut Mr Axfield some slack, by this point I think you're being rather unreasonable in how much you hate him." It had been a month since the thing with Mr Axfield and Mr d'Autrice, there was no reason for Ronnie to still be so angry about it. Just because he didn't like the teacher doesn't mean he should ignore him entirely.

__________________

"I don't think you understand it from my point of view. He got Abbie to cheat on Dad. Is that not reason enough to hate him? It doesn't matter, next year I'm..." Ronnie cut himself off. He was going to tell them about him moving to Germany, but using that against Liam wouldn't work. He'd have to tell them sometime, but not now.

__________________

"From Mr Axfield's reaction afterwards I don't think he even knew Mr d'Autrice was already involved with someone else. But if anger helps please do carry on as you have." He was sick of Ronnie not seeing sense, not calming down about it, but there wasn't anything he could do. More than anything he was annoyed that Ronnie still wasn't talking to Mr d'Autrice, his dad. Ronnie had two parents that loved him very much, that's more than Liam could say, Liam never knew his dad, never had memories with him, he'd give anything to have him now. But Ronnie was completely cutting his dad off for something, which although bad, shouldn't get in the way of their relationship, certainly not in such a severe way. He's not saying to forgive him completely, but at least to try. He wouldn't say any of this though, he didn't want to use the guilt card, not yet anyway.

___________________  
"That's not my problem. And my dad - Abbie - wears, or wore, his wedding ring, so Mr Axfield just didn't look hard enough at Abbie. Oh well. It's too later now." Ronnie said. He liked Mr Axfield as a teacher, but as a person that kissed his dad, hmm... Not so much. He couldn't forgive him entirely.

___________________

"We've talked about it enough times anyway, we aren't going to agree on this." Liam stowed his wand away, he'd say he has the spells they were practicing done well enough for now and he needs to start his potions essay, it's due in for their lesson tomorrow, it's on how colour affects the potion.

___________________

"Mm."  
Alanna stretched out on the grass. She sang to them quietly, and they started dancing a little, side to side. "Have you got much homework left, Liam? Might as well get it all done soon, it's a beautiful day." That was true. The sun was shining and the was a gentle breeze blowing.

___________________

"One more piece for history, then I'm all done." He was breezing through the potions essay, he had found it interesting and already done a lot of research into the subject.  
"Have you guys finished all your homework?"

___________________

They both nodded.  
"We finished it earlier." Alanna said. She was happy they were getting their homework done as soon as they got it instead of waiting for it to pile up along with the stress. It was good.

___________________

"I was reading the book Mr Axfield recommended, completely forgot that I had homework due so soon, I don't think it will take me long, but I should have put homework first." He was finishing the paragraph on how black potions would often cause death, and another sign was a sweet, honey-like smell, except in the potion for temporary blindness.

___________________

"No need to explain yourself," Alanna said, smiling sweetly. "You and Mr Axfield seem to get along nicely then, yes?" She herself had never spoken to a teacher outside of lessons or lunch, except for the one time she didn't understand a charm spell which she asked the teacher about after lesson.

___________________

"He's interesting, he knows loads about different subjects, I like talking with him sometimes." He finished his final paragraph on how certain ingredients could change the colour of a potion with no other side effects and put his homework away, replacing it with his history homework, a piece on the life of one of the schools founders of his choice, and their values which they put into their schools. He'd chosen to do Slytherin, unlike most people who were doing their own house heads, he found Slytherin's fascinating.

___________________

Ronnie laughed. "That's like, your third piece of homework. Does it never end?"  
"Not with the potions teacher," Alanna sighed, resting her head on the grass. "He is like the god of evil and homework. Not even human."

____________________

"I do believe that he is in fact not human, all the evidence suggests, his unnatural paleness, his hatred of all human things capable of movement, there is no chance that he is human." 

____________________

"Not in the slightest." Ronnie and Alanna agreed.   
In front of them, two first year Hufflepuff females were speaking. "Oh, my love, how will I get by without you in my class." One of them cried dramatically. Her name was Maeka and she had longish brown hair, swept up in a ponytail. Her eyes were leaf green and she was energetic and full of puns. She was very smol.

____________________

"I know not, my love, I too will be lost without you." The other female sighed. She took on a more serious voice. "Do you think we could use paper aeroplanes? Or communication mirrors? Would the teacher notice?" She threw her arm around the other's shoulders, blue eyes sparkling, chestnut hair flowing in the light wind.

__________________

"Oh my darling, it is worth a try, if we get a detention then at least I'll be with you, that is all I want from this drab, grim life of a student." Maeka placed her hand on her forehead. "I simply want to look upon your beautiful face, see the your gorgeous eyes, and ask myself how long it will be until we are finally together, with no boys standing in the way of our love." She stroked the other girl's cheek gently.

__________________

"Indeed, and even if we are caught then we will continue, continue until the teachers realise the only way to stop us is to join us again." Liam watched the interaction, then turned to Ronnie and Alanna.  
"Are those two together?"

______________

Alanna shook her head. "Nope. They're just friends that are strangely close... They both have respectable boyfriends."  
Maeka saw Alanna and walked over to her, pulling the other girl along. "Oh Alanna, darling, are you the creative witch that will help me and my true love be reunited again? Megara and I just belong together."  
Alanna smiled kindly. "Unfortunately not, my dear, but perhaps your boyfriend holds the answer?"  
Maeka giggled. "I doubt that. Speaking of boyfriends, is this yours? Hello, my love, I am Maeka, also known as Megara's significant other." She embraced Ronnie tightly.

______________

"It's very nice to meet you both, and I would like to clarify that whilst Maeka is not my significant other, she might as well be, I've heard there are bets on when our relationship will be official." Megara smiled at each of them in turn, arm still around Maeka, making it very hard for Liam to believe that they aren't actually together.

______________

 

"Do not lie, my honey, I am your other half, your partner, your one true love." Maeka smiled, kissing Megara's hand.  
A small group of Slytherins passed and one shouted: "Ew, gay!"  
"Do not be so rude, darling William, I have seen how you act around Kenan." She called back, smiling gently and blowing them a kiss.  
Ronnie laughed.

______________

Liam laughed as well, he'd heard a lot about Kenan and William, it was a popular topic among the Ravenclaw students, the relationship supposedly going on among the Slytherins even though homosexuality was regarded as disgusting in that house. 

______________

William and his group scowled as they walked past, not giving them a backwards glance.  
"Aaaaanyway," Maeka drawled. "I'm going to go make out with my love, Megara, I'll see all you beauties around?"  
Ronnie nodded, and the pair left. "They are very strange."  
Meanwhile, Abbie and Matt were walking around the castle together.

______________

They stopped at the staff room, intending on marking work, inside the staff room other teachers were talking, marking and making lesson plans. They sat on an empty table together, but were soon joined by the herbology teacher, head of Hufflepuff, Professor Hyanth.  
"I was wondering, because you're talking again, are you two dating? I'm simply curious." 

____________

Abbie froze in shock. "Uh...um... We're..." He stuttered. He had been wondering what the relationship between him and Matt was, but he didn't know what to say to the teacher. They weren't dating, technically speaking, but they'd never said anything about it at all, so he didn't know what Matt's feelings about the whole thing was.

____________

Matt glanced at Abbie, he was spluttering terribly, making Matt resolve to have a conversation about their relationship status when they were alone.  
"We're undecided, we haven't really talked about it, we'll give you an answer when we know ourselves."

____________

Abbie sighed in relief and looked down at the stack of work he needed to mark and began. He started with the younger students' work first and slowly but steadily made his way through the years to the older students.

____________

Matt got his marking done quickly, eager to get his work done, as Professor Hyanth had decided to stay with them whilst doing his own marking. The man smelt of earth, and it was irritating to Matt's nose. Soon enough he had it all finished and looked to see how close to finishing Abbie was.

_____________

 

Abbie had just finished as he looked up and saw Matt looking at him. He gave a small smile and put all of the work in his folders. "Are you ready to go?" He stood up and nodded at Hyanth, waiting for Matt.

_____________

"Yep." Matt gathered his things and waved goodbye at Hyanth, before leaving with Abbie. His mind went back to Hyanth question, were they dating? They still didn't know, and it was grating on his nerves.

__________

He walked back to the dorms, deep in his thoughts. Would they talk about their relationship now? Abbie hoped so, but he was still unsure of what they were or the feelings he felt. He didn't love Matt, exactly, but he liked him more than a friend. He was also extremely grateful for Matt for taking care of him while he was (and still is) ill. They got to the dorm, and they both walked into Matt's.

__________

Matt made them both coffee, he knew Abbie's coffee preferences by now so didn't need to ask. Without looking back at him he asked the question that was on his mind.  
"Abbie, are we in a relationship? Is that what this is?" 

__________

Abbie looked at Matt's back, thinking. "No. Technically not. I mean, we never spoke about our relationship, so I just assumed we were fuck buddies, but..." But he had developed unknown feelings for him. Was that the right thing to say? He didn't know.

__________

"Yeah, of course, if that's what you want, it's fine..." Matt was dismayed, did Abbie really think of them as nothing more than fuck buddies? He certainly didn't feel that way, he'd even go as far as saying he was developing feelings for Abbie. If Abbie really felt that way maybe it would be better to cut it off before he got hurt.

_________

"No!" Abbie said quickly. "No, no, that's not what I meant. It was just because we never spoke about it, so I didn't think you wanted to be anything more." He stood up and walked towards Matt, who still had his back to him and wrapped his arms around Matt's waist, burying his head into his neck. He stepped as close to Matt as possible, his hips pressed up against his butt.

_________

"Of course I want more! What ever gave you the idea I didn't? I really like you Abbie." Matt turned around so they were facing each other, looking deep into Abbie's eyes, hoping to portray his feelings through them.

_________

Abbie blushed, blinking in surprise at Matt's confession. "Because we never... We never... We were all bodies, and never emotions, except for when we were drunk. I just thought that... I don't know," he sighed sadly and looked back into Matt's eyes. "I'm not good at emotions, or people really, so how was I to know you liked me?"

__________

"I...I don't know, I just thought maybe you'd notice? I wasn't exactly trying to keep it a secret, and I didn't say anything because I thought if you wanted something more you'd say, or indicate that maybe that you did?" Matt huffed; this emotional conversation thing was difficult.

__________

"Well, that's what I thought you would do. I'm sorry. But I don't know...," he trailed off, at loss for words. "I'm sorry for assuming you wanted nothing but sex, that was rude of me and I apologise. I guess now that I know you like me, we..." He trailed off again, unsure what to say.

__________

"We could...officially name ourselves boyfriend and boyfriend, and then carry on life as normal but maybe with more feelings talks?" Matt smiled hopefully, hoping for him to say yes.

__________

Abbie didn't reply. He looked away from Matt for a moment, thinking, then looked back at Matt and the hopeful smile on his face. What would happen if he said no? What would happen if he said yes? He bit his lip hard. "Fine. Yes. On one condition." Abbie said, removing one hand from Matt's waist to hold a finger up. "We discuss what we both want, need, and do not want in this relationship."

___________

"Deal." He said that a bit fast, it probably sounded very desperate. However Matt is desperate for this, so he gives himself a pass. "Would you like to discuss it now? Or wait? Either is fine." He felt slightly giddy, the affirmation that they would actually be a couple was amazing for him.

_________

"I don't mind, you choose." Abbie said, resting his forehead against Matt's and placing his hand on the small of his back, pulling him closer. He could feel Matt's breath against his lips, rubbing gentle circles on Matt's hip and back with his hands.

_________

"Shall we get it over and done with, get it out of the way so we don't have to worry about it?" Matt places his own hands on Abbie's hips, holding him close. He decides he never wants to leave this position, never wants to leave Abbie's arms, where he is comfortable.

_________

"Mm," Abbie hummed, brushing his lips against Matt's. "Okay. We'll take it in turns stating one point? I'll start. Don't tell anyone about us together until after Halloween." He was officially divorcing Matty in the holidays, so he would be free to do what he wanted regarding partners after that.

_________  
"That's fine. Is it okay if you don't ask any more questions about my past, we've already talked about most things but I don't like recalling bad memories, I'm sure you understand." Matt had come to terms with how his life was, but it was hard to forget about enough with his dad still in his life, he didn't need to go over it anymore by talking about it (no matter what his therapist said).

_____________

"Yes, that's okay. Hmm... Don't call me Abreice in public please? If it's just us alone in an apartment, I honestly don't mind, but never around other people. Oh, and, please..," Abbie paused. This wasn't a request he'd ever needed to ask. "Um... When talking to other people about me, if you do... Um... Refer to me as a she?" He watched Matt's eyes, hoping he wouldn't laugh or anything. He'd grew up being referred to as a she, it was just normal for him, and now at school when he heard other people using the male pronouns, he hated it.

_____________

"If that's what you want I don't have a problem. I think I've said this before but no PDA. I can't think of anything else that I don't like right now, you?" There's probably more, but the chances are he won't know them till they happen.

__________

"No PDA is fine. I can't either." Abbie pressed his lips against Matt's, softly at first, just a gentle peck and then pulled away. He closed his eyes and kissed him again, more passionately, tracing circles on his back and hips with his hands.

__________

"Shall we take this to the bedroom?" 

__________

The next few weeks leading up to the last day of school before the Halloween holidays passed quickly.   
Ronnie was sat at the Gryffindor table next to Alanna, holding her hand under   
the table, and the headmistress called for silence. Immediately the entire hall went quiet, their full attention on the serious looking head teacher.

__________

"Before we start this evening's feast I have some issues that have come to light. I, and the other teachers, have noticed an increase in violent acts among the students. These have escalated at a disturbing rate with duels and the distributing of cursed objects. You are all entitled to have fun and I understand that with the addition of magic that makes it more dangerous but I will NOT stand for the harm of your fellow students. It must come to an end and any acts that might be perceived as having violent intent will be severely punished after the half term break. I hope you will all stop this terrible behaviour so that these punishments will not have to be used." The headmistress was terrifyingly serious, a look of barely concealed anger upon her face. From the tension in the hall it was clear all students had understood her message clearly.

___________

The hall was silent for a few more moments, then quiet murmurs rose. People were whispering about the cursed objects, who they might have got them from and other things. There were a few glares thrown around the hall at people who may or may not have been guilty in the slightest.  
"Well, I'm glad the headmistress finally said it." Alanna said to Ronnie quietly.  
"Me too. Hopefully, it all should stop now." Hopefully. But they were students, and among them were pupils that wouldn't stop, and continue fighting and/or selling cursed objects.

___________

Once the speech was over and the tension had lifted from the room the feast proceeded merrily, the half term break started tomorrow so everyone was saying goodbye to their friends, wishing them a nice holiday. Liam made his way over to Ronnie and Alanna to bid them goodbye, he sat on the other side of Ronnie, across from them were Maeka and Megara. Recently they had been spending more time around the girls, despite how strange they were they were also funny.

___________

"Hiya, Liam!" Alanna greeted happily, leaning forward to flash him a smile.  
"Hi, Liam. Have a lovely holiday." Ronnie smiled.  
Maeka and Megara also wished everyone a happy holiday and then Maeka produced a bag of strawberry laces from her robes.  
"Would my darling like to play pocky?" Maeka asked Megara, holding one strawberry lace end out for her.  
"Why, of course my love." Megara agreed, putting the end in her mouth as Maeka did the same to her end. They quickly bit the ends until their lips touched, and then pulled away.  
"Aw, what the hell? You got more than me!" Maeka complained, eating the lace.  
Megara laughed at her.

___________

"What was that?" He knew the girls were sometimes uncomfortably close but that was the first time he'd seen anything like that. Other people around them were giving the girls strange looks as well, some simply looked resigned.

________

"That, my fellow midget," Maeka said. "Was pocky. A truly amazing game which allows me to be close with Megara, a game I love, because it is the only time I'm allowed to kiss her. Tragic." She stroked Megara's cheek fondly.  
"Ew, I've got Maeka germs now." Megara said, wiping her face and smirking at Maeka, who pulled a sad face.  
"Well, unfortunately, my beauties, this last feast is coming to an end, and I shall not see you again for a week. How am I going to survive?" Maeka cried, leaning on Megara who pushed her away, giggling.

________

They had all started telling their plans for the week when a great laughter came from the Slytherin table followed by chaos as slime poured from the ceiling above them. Over the Gryffindor table it was red, each table had its house colours. Liam noticed however that the only students not being showered in slime were Slytherin, who instead were being showered in green sweets and shouting joyfully and laughing at the shocked reactions of the other tables.

___________

Maeka and Alanna shrieked in unison as the slime poured down on them.  
"My hair!" Alanna cried, trying to wring the slime out.  
"Oh!" Maeka said, her eyes lighting up. "Could this help my plant grow?" She pulled a sad looking flower in a small pot out of her robes and scooped some slime onto it. The white flower drooped under the weight, but other than that, the slime had no effect. Maeka sighed sadly. "I hoped that would work." She put it back into her pocket.  
Ronnie looked around the hall. Teachers looked down at the students in shock, the Slytherins eating the sweet that rained down upon them. "Well, I guess it's a sane assumption to say the Slytherins did this." He shook his head, trying to get the slime out.

____________

Liam wiped the slime off his face with a grimace.  
"Trick or treat. God this stuff is disgusting, it's so sticky!" He got some between both fingers and watched it create a bridge when he pulled them apart. "Of course it was the Slytherins only they would make a prank that was bad for everyone but them. Of all the things it had to be slime!"

__________

Maeka giggled. "What a sticky situation."  
Megara laughed at Maeka. "To get through this, we must stick together." The girls laughed at each other.  
"I hope this comes off in the shower. And Meg, Maeka, I've heard better puns from you. I'm ashamed." Alanna said, giving a sly smile.  
A few teachers were laughing at the chaos of students whining about the slime, or those throwing it over to the Slytherin table. The headmistress stood up and it went quiet again.

__________

"I distinctly remember asking for a stop to pranks and such at the beginning of this feast...however this was harmless, and a perfect way to end this year's Halloween feast! Trick or treat! Now everyone go back to your dorms, you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow." As everyone stood up it was accompanied by a loud squelch from the slime covered students.

_________

Megara and Maeka headed for the Hufflepuff dorms, waving (or blowing a kiss, in Maeka's case) goodbye.  
Alanna and Ronnie walked hand in hand towards the Gryffindor dorms, stopping just before they had to walk a separate way to Liam. "Bye, Liam. See you on the train?" Ronnie smiled hopefully.

_________

"Probably, see you tomorrow!" He waved then walked up to the library to the Ravenclaw dorms.

Matt had poked at his dinner gloomily for most of dinner, barely eating anything, or responding to anyone. Tomorrow he had to go back to his dad's, it won't be for the full week he keeps telling himself but it doesn't make knowing he's going back any better. When the headmistress declared dinner over he left immediately.

_________

Abbie walked next to Matt quietly. He'd noted Matt's unresponsiveness and lack of eating at the feast, and decided to question him about it when they were alone. Abbie had all his things packed, so when they got back to the dorms, he followed Matt into his and closed the door behind them.  
"Alright. Spill. What's wrong?" 

_________

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong. I'm fine, completely fine, why do you ask?" He moved to pack the last of the things he'd need. He'd put it off for as long as possible but couldn't avoid it any longer, packing made it feel real.

_________

"Matt," Abbie sighed, pulling one of Matt's hands and wrapping around his waist. He cupped his hands around his face. "Why didn't you eat much at dinner, why didn't you speak much, and why are you trying to pretend nothing's wrong? What's wrong?" Matt had mentioned him going to his dad's for Halloween, maybe that was why he's acting like this? But then again, he said he'd be fine.

_________

"I...I'm fine...fine...absolutely.." Matt let his head fall to Abbie's shoulder, shoulders shaking with suppressed tears. "I don't want to go back Abbie, I don't, I'm not sure I can." He knew it was pointless though, it didn't matter whether he wanted to, whether he thought he couldn't, he didn't have a choice, he had to go.

__________

Abbie hugged Matt, rubbing his back and pulling him closer and kissing his temple gently. "Oh, Matt..." He sighed. He didn't really know what to do. "Do you have to? Can't you get a way out of it? At all?" He really doubted it. If Matt didn't want to do something, Abbie was sure that he wouldn't.

__________

"I have no choice, there's nothing I can do about it. I don't want to, I really really don't..." He clutched tightly to Abbie, not letting go. "I'm scared...I'm so so scared..."

_________

"Okay, calm down, Matt." He lead him over to the couch and sat him down, kneeling on the ground in front of him, holding his hands. "Calm down. Look, it's just me. You have my number, just phone me whenever, yes? I'll be ready to answer, all holiday. Don't worry, I'll be here, no?" Abbie's French accent was coming out in his worry about calming Matt down.

_________

Matt took deep breaths, keeping his eyes fixed on Abbie.   
"Thank you, thank you. Would you...is it okay if...you stay here tonight, with me?" He felt pathetic for freaking out like that, he lived there for eighteen years he should be fine going back, he'd been going back every year it was never fun but he could do it.

_________

Abbie gave a small smile. "Of course." He stroked Matt's cheek, quiet for a moment. "But I need a shower before I go to bed, is that alright? I've already packed, so if you pack while I'm in the shower, and I'll help if you have anything else when I'm out?"

_________

Matt nodded and stood, he was still shaking but it was better than before, he was calmer. He set to putting away the rest of his stuff while Abbie made his way to the shower, keeping his back to him. He felt weak and horrible. He'd never broken down that badly, if ever, in front of Abbie, at least not whilst sober. He'd never let anyone see him get to that state, he always made sure to be out of people's way in the days before he went home. He couldn't let himself be seen as weak like that.

____________

Abbie had a quick shower, washing his hair and body as fast as he could so he could get out and help Matt in any way he could. He dried himself quickly, dressing himself in the shorts and t shirt he'd left out and not packed. When he was done he walked out and wrapped his arms around Matt, who had his back to him.

____________

Matt had mostly finished, packing the last things and zipping up, when Abbie's arms wrapped around him. He lent back into them, taking comfort from his warmth.  
"I'm sorry about freaking out, I'm better now, thank you."

___________

"Mm. Don't worry about it, I don't mind." He buried his head in Matt's neck, breathing in deeply, getting as much attention from Matt as he could before they left each other for the holiday. "Are you there all holiday? If not, you could come to my friend's house, where I'm staying. He won't mind, in fact, I'm sure he'll love the company." Abbie desperately hoped Matt would agree. He wanted him to spend as little time as possible with his dad.

___________

"I'm there Monday to Thursday. I'd love to see you, if it's definitely okay with your friend?" Having somewhere to go after four days of his dad might help a lot, he certainly didn't want to be left on his own with his thoughts. Though it might not be best to dump himself on Abbie when he's like that, it would make more sense to go to his uni friends, Greg wouldn't mind taking him in, and they'd seen him like that before. But after four days of hell, Abbie would be the person he'd want to see most, he's sure.

___________

Abbie nodded, placing gently kisses on Matt's neck. "I'll call him in a minute." He was happy Matt had agreed, and he was sure his friend Leon wouldn't mind in the slightest. He was like that. He had been Abbie's friend for years. "He's a bit strange, though... You'll see what I mean." He trailed his fingers across Matt's stomach.

___________

"Strange? Stranger than you? Not possible." He smiled and turned in Abbie's embrace, placing a kiss on Abbie's lips. "I should warn you, I'm probably going to be a bit...off, when I get back so just a warning, yeah." He couldn't look into Abbie's eyes, instead burying his head into his shoulder.

___________

"That's fine, don't worry." He kissed Matt's hair. "And yes, Leon is very bizarre. I'm sure you'll love him." Abbie rubbed Matt's back again, one hand slipping up Matt's shirt and tracing swirls up his spine. "I'll be here, Matt. It'll be okay."

___________

"I know, thank you for this, it means a lot to me." Knowing that when he made it out the other end of his personal hell Abbie would be there waiting made the idea almost bearable, almost. It gave him something to look forward to and that made it infinitely better. Pulling Abbie by the hand he took them to the sofa, pulling Abbie into his lap.

____________

Abbie shuffled about in Matt's lap, trying to get comfy, but the closeness of Matt and the hands on his hips were too much, and he let out a little moan. Immediately, he blushed, pressing his face into Matt's neck, tensing his body as he felt his arousal heighten. He took a deep breath.

____________

Matt chuckled, pulling Abbie against him.  
"I think I should show how grateful I am to you."

____________

The next morning, Abbie woke up to his alarm screeching. He groaned and regretfully wiggled his way out of Matt's arm and turned it off. He rubbed his eyes and stood up, looking for some clothes to put on.  
"Matt, morning. Get up, we've got to go." He found some clothes and put them on, then walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

____________

"Don' wanna. Don' make me...please?" But even as he said this he forced himself to sit up, blinking blearily in the early morning sunlight. With a great sigh he pushed himself out of bed and into the bathroom, climbing into the shower, taking as much time as possible.

__________

Abbie tried to distract himself from looking at Matt in the shower. Eventually he managed to get himself out of the bathroom and moved his bags into Matt's dorm so he'd be ready to leave when Matt was done.  
"Come on Matt, you lazy sod, we'll be late!"

__________

"I'm cooooming!" He stepped out and wrapped a towel around his waist, he went through to the main room to look for clothes, trying to hurry up for Abbie's sake, when in reality all he wanted to do was take forever, stall for as long as he could.

__________

"That's what you said last night." Abbie muttered, tapping the doorframe impatiently. He knew Matt didn't want to go back, but they had to get on the train quickly. He got a hold of Matt's bags, so they could leave as soon as possible. "Hurry up!"

__________

"I'm done, let's go." His face took on an expression of resignation, he didn't have much time left. All he had was the train ride back, and then he was leaving Abbie and going to his dad, he couldn't think of a worse exchange. He stayed as close to Abbie as he could as they made their way down, making the most of their time together.

___________

Abbie put all their bags in the storage part of the train, and he and Matt found their own compartment and sat close next to each other. Abbie's fingers brushed Matt's, and he gave them a little squeeze then let go, remembering how Matt felt about PDA.

___________

Liam was sat in a compartment with Ronnie, Alanna, Maeka and Megara. The couples were sat together (there's no way Maeka and Megara aren't dating) and Liam was sat next to Ronnie. They were laughing about last night, because most things are funny in hindsight, enjoying each others company.

___________

"So, what do all you guys have planned for this holiday?" Ronnie asked.  
"I'm going to be sat at my desk at home, desperately thinking of a way Megara and I will be together. Forever." Maeka said, kissing Megara's cheek, who complained, laughing, and wiped her cheek.  
"I don't know. What about you, Liam?" Alanna asked.

___________

"I don't have any plans. I think my mum wants some family days, she's been missing me based on the letters. And I want to see my old friends, they were surprised to hear I'd be going to a boarding school." He'd been thinking about his old life quite a bit more since the break was coming up.

__________

They all nodded. Maeka produced some more strawberry laces from who knows where, and her and Megara started playing pocky.  
Alanna leaned against Ronnie, resting her head in his shoulder. Ronnie smiled at her, then Liam. "Did you get any homework to do over the holiday? The potions teacher gave us some which is more proof he hates us, but did you get any from the subjects we aren't together?"

__________

"Nothing official, only the potions teacher, but I did ask for some extra reading from Mr Axfield." He shrugged, he knew that sounded nerdy, but he wanted more reading and Mr Axfield had the best suggestions and collection. He looked to the other passengers (namely Maeka and Megara)   
"What about you guys?"

_________

Maeka and Megara looked at Liam, their lips very close to touching, only moving their eyes. Megara pulled away, both of them laughing.  
"Nah, not much, my family don't celebrate Halloween, so I'll probably just do all my homework and sleep and eat."  
"No change then, Maeka," Megara giggled. Maeka gave her a look, smiling. "I'll most likely do the same as you."  
"Do the same as me and also me." Maeka smirked.

_________

The train ride was fun, only dimmed by the knowledge that they wouldn't see each other for a week when they got off. In Abbie and Matt's compartment the closer to the end of their journey they got the more nervous he became, and distracted, many times he missed large portions of conversation with Abbie.  
____________

Abbie noticed Matt was off, but he ignored it, not wanting to annoy him. It wasn't long before they arrived at the train station. He took a deep breath and quickly, before anyone looked into their compartment, he turned and kissed Matt on the lips. It was only a peck, lasting less than a second. Abbie stood up and opened the door.  
"You'll be okay, Matt. I'll see you soon, so don't worry." He smiled.

____________

"I'll be counting down the days until I see you next." His smile was strained, thinking about the truth of the statement, of where he was going next. The shaking had come back, worse than ever, he wasn't ready for this. 

____________

Abbie noticed the shaking and walked back over to Matt, placing his own hands on his. "Calm down. Call me as soon as you can, yes?" Students were running down the corridor and off the train, eager to see their families. Abbie ran his hand through Matt's hair and then stood at the doorway. "Come on." He smiled, trying to help Matt calm down.

____________

"Okay." He followed Abbie out trying to keep up a calm facade in front of the students, and then in front of the crowd of people collecting their children. He knew his dad would have sent a driver to pick him up, because God forbid any son of his drove his car; got to a place on his own. Although in the state he was in he might end up crashing the car before he got there, which wouldn't be good.

___________

Abbie saw Ronnie run ahead to a man with bright red hair. Ronnie jumped and hugged Matty, who hugged him back, smiling.  
"Um... I've got to go now, talk to you later, see you soon." Abbie gave a faint smile, a little wave, then walked over to Matty and Ronnie.

___________

Matt tried to make sure he wouldn't be seen by Matty, he went into stealth mode, he looked for a man in a suit, he'd probably have a name card. It didn't take him long to find the man, and he didn't look friendly at all, probably one of the new staff because he didn't recognise him. However the man did recognise Matt, he bowed his head when Matt approached. He took his bags swiftly after.  
"Sir, this way please." He turned around and took him to a sleek black car.

___________

When Matty saw Abbie coming, he smiled. "Hiya."  
"Hello." Abbie said, smiling back. He briefly disappeared to fetch his and Ronnie's bags, and when he came back, Matty and Ronnie were hugging again.  
"Shall we go?"  
"No, no, Dad," Ronnie said. "Can we wait until Liam finds his mum?"

___________

Heather, Liam's mum, was stood next to Matty, as they had been talking before the train arrived. It didn't take long for Liam to find her stood with them, she had her brown hair tied in a loose side pony, her face lit up with a soft smile when she saw Liam and they hugged tightly.  
"I missed you sweetheart, did you enjoy your first term?" She had a look of genuine interest on her face.  
"I missed you as well, and the school's amazing, I've learnt so much it's incredible, and I've made new friends." He glanced over at Ronnie with a smile.

___________

Ronnie smiled back at him, releasing Matty.  
"What do you want for dinner tonight, Ronnie? Your choice." Matty smiled, and Ronnie turned to look at him.  
"I get to choose?" Ronnie's eyes lit up. Matty laughed and nodded.  
Abbie narrowed his eyes at Matty. It looked like he'd lost a lot of weight, and he had dark bags under his eyes. He had a sad, mourning look in his eyes and he looked very pale. When Matty turned to give him a questioning look, Abbie shook his head, and Matty gave a weak smile.  
They said goodbye to Heather and Liam, and got into Abbie's shiny red car and drove home.

___________

The drive back for Heather and Liam was fun, filled with conversation on Liam's time at the school and the amazing things that happened there, for Matt however it was less fun. He sat in the back of the car, it was comfortable, the best money could buy, probably. The car was silent, not even music to fill the quiet. He lent against the window like he was in a sad movie as the man drove him to his doom.

___________

Abbie was driving, listening to Ronnie talk excitedly to Matty for the entire drive. When they got home, Ronnie ran inside, and Matty stayed to get the bags out of the boot. When they were alone, Abbie looked at him.  
"What's wrong?"  
"Nothing," Matty said, smiling. "I've just been feeling ill lately. Don't worry." Matty rested his hand on Abbie's shoulder for a moment, then getting and walking inside.

___________

When they entered the drive to the house they couldn't even see it yet, the drive was horrible and the feeling only got worse when the house loomed in the distance, like the gates of hell. The car pulled up right outside the door, deposited him and his bags then drove off to the garage. The door opened for him as he approached, as he entered he saw his father waiting at the foot of the grand stairs.   
"Father." He walked up to him, a sense of calm, the numb he used to feel taking over.   
"Matt, good to see you." He smiled his show smile, extending his hand palms up. "Your wand please." Passing it over felt like passing over his freedom, but he did it.

_____________

Abbie walked inside. They put all their clothes away and sorted Ronnie's school books out. While Ronnie was upstairs, Matty handed Abbie some sheets of paper.  
"You have to sign that, then go see the woman who sorted it out, and we're officially divorced." Matty said, smiling.  
Abbie nodded. "Okay. Thank you. I'll see her tomorrow."  
"Has... Has Ronnie been talking to you recently?"  
"No, not since... The first night. Only once, where he told me he'd like to move to Germany with you."   
Matty nodded sadly, and opened his arms out for a hug, which Abbie stepped into happily. They wrapped their arms around each other for what was possibly the last time.

_____________

"You know the rules while you are here, correct?" Matt nodded but his father, Edmund, went over the rules anyway. "You are not to use your power at anytime within these walls unless expressly told to do so, by me and only me. I expect to be addressed respectfully at all times. You must obey all my orders as soon as I tell you them. Understand?" Matt knew that if his father ordered him to do something he wouldn't have a choice in whether he obeyed or not, he didn't need to say it.  
"Yes sir." He was apathetic, he had to be.  
"Then follow me." 

_____________

They pulled apart abruptly when they heard Ronnie's footsteps coming down the stairs.  
"I've ordered pizza, Ronnie sweetheart, is that alright?" Matty asked.  
Ronnie nodded happily, hugging Matty. "Yes Dad, thank you very much."  
"No worries, Ronnie." Matty smiled.  
Leaving Matty and Ronnie alone, Abbie stood in the kitchen and phoned his friend Leon to check it was okay for Matt to stay. He picked up on the first ring.  
"Sup, slut." Leon greeted.  
"Hey, Lee. You okay?"  
"Yeah, bitch. Thanks. What's up?"  
"Is it alright if a friend of mine stays with me at yours? He'll be here in four days, if all goes well."  
"Oh hell yes, shit bag! You'll share the same bed, yes?"  
"Yeah. See you tonight?"  
"Yeah, whore. See you tonight dipshit."

______________

They walked through to the study, taking seats in the large leather chairs. His father immediately lit a cigar, he felt his muscles tense but he had to stay still, he couldn't fidget, not with his father sat across from him.  
"How are you liking your new job, you are a teacher now, correct?"   
"Yes, sir. I'm enjoying it greatly, the teachers are experienced, I dare say they'd meet even your standards, they've helped me adjust to life at the school." He thinks of Abbie, and it makes him want to smile, knowing he'll see him soon, he doesn't of course.  
"I doubt it, it took me a good long while to find your teacher, only the best." He of course had to find someone willing not to tell of the goings on within the mansion as well, which was probably why it took so long.

_____________

Abbie hung up, impatient to see his friend again after so long. He went into his and Matty's bedroom and packed enough clothes for the week. Ronnie appeared at the door.  
"When are you going? Dad wants to know."   
"I'll go now, it's not a problem." He slung the bag over his shoulder and smiled at Ronnie before picking up the divorce papers. "I'm going, Matty." He called, and walked out.

_____________

The door opened quietly and a young lady in the maids uniform waited in the doorway.  
"What is it?" His father snapped.  
"Dinner is prepared sir, if you would both make your way to the dining room." His father stood quickly, dismissing the maid.  
"Come on Matthew, we'll continue the conversation over dinner." They walked to the dining room in silence, Matt walking slightly behind his father. Edmund sat at the head of the table, Matt sat farther down, to his right. Dinner was placed in front of them and they began to eat.  
"So any nice ladies caught your eye Matthew? I'm still waiting on an heir you know." Matt deliberated over how to answer this, saying yes wouldn't be entirely a lie, Abbie had asked him to call him by female pronouns to others.  
"One, but I'm not entirely sure it will go anywhere. She is lovely though." Best not to get his dad's hopes up.

___________

Abbie walked to his friend's house quickly, just as the sun was almost set. He got there and knocked on the door.  
Leon flung open the door and jumped on Abbie, wrapping his legs and arms around him.  
"Oh, Abbie! It's been so long!" Leon cried.  
"It has, Lee. Missed you." Abbie hugged him tightly. Leon kissed each of Abbie's cheeks and led him into his house, closing the door behind him.  
"So, my fellow prostitute, I assume your sex life is okay and you don't need me to take care of it?" Leon asked, flopping down on the couch.  
Abbie smiled. "It's okay, thank you. How is yours?" He collapsed on the couch next to Leon's.  
"Action packed, my slut, action packed," Leon said. He rolled over and fell on the floor, crawling over to the table and offering some Skittles to Abbie. "How about some Shit-les, hoe? Taste my rainbow."  
Abbie tried to keep a straight face, but then erupted into laughter. He laughed so hard his stomach hurt. It was the first time he'd laughed like this in months, and it felt good.

_____________

"I hope it goes somewhere, you're not getting any younger Matthew, you need to have a son."   
"I'm 24, not exactly old, Dad." he almost rolls his eyes, in fact he might have just rolled his eyes, he freezes watching his dad slowly put his knife and fork down.  
"Matthew you know how I feel about being called 'dad', it's disrespectful to me. However I am more disappointed by you just rolling your eyes at me." His calm manner suggests more than just 'disappointment' Matt thinks it's more along the lines of cold fury.  
"After dinner you and I are going to have a talk about your attitude in the study, understood?" Of course talk probably didn't mean talk, it probably meant something entirely different.  
"Yes sir." He kept up his calm facade, because it was all he could do to stop himself from breaking down, which would only make things worse.

____________

Leon kept a serious face, which only made Abbie laughed harder.  
"The... Funny thing is...," Abbie managed to gasp between fits of laughter. "You're wearing rainbow underwear."  
Leon looked down and let out a giggle. He'd forgotten he hadn't put any trousers on. "My mistake. I thought you could handle this ass, you have done before." That set Abbie off again. He felt like he'd been stabbed in the stomach multiple times, but the look on Leon's face wasn't going to stop Abbie laughing anytime soon.

____________

Dinner passed far too quickly for Matt's taste, dinner was filled with small talk and silence, which was nice. After dinner was not going to be nice so of course it came around quickly. Once they had both finished his father stood silently and left the room, Matt following behind him to the study. When they entered the room his father poured himself a glass of scotch and sat in his chair, Matt knew from experience what to do, so he stood in front of him, arms limp by his side. His father had already been drinking with dinner, and he knew his fathers favourite punishment when he'd been drinking, he was prepared, he was...ready?  
"You know how I dislike such disrespectful behaviour Matthew, clearly time among the general public has made you forget, I'll help you remember." He stood up and unbuckled his belt, wrapping the leather end around his fist.  
"Turn around, shirt off, on your knees." He did as he was told, hoping it wouldn't last long.  
"You know why I'm doing this, learn from your mistakes, Matthew." Then the first blow hit, before he could even process the second came, then the third, and the fourth, fifteen in total, more than he anticipated. It hurt really bad, his breathing was laboured, his bones felt heavy, he didn't even want to think about the pain on his back, the pain he wouldn't be able to heal, and it had definitely broken skin.   
"I hope you learned your lesson, now go. I expect to see you bright and early for breakfast tomorrow." 

____________

It took ages for Abbie to calm down, tears were streaming down his face. He and Leon talked for a bit, occasionally bursting into fits of laughter. When the sun had fully set and it was dark, they got into their pyjamas. Abbie looked at his phone, wondering why Matt hadn't called yet. Should Abbie call him? But maybe his father had his phone, and Abbie didn't want to end up in that situation. His thoughts were interrupted by Leon slapping his butt.  
"You've got that brooding look on your face, sexy, let me change it into a face of pleasure."  
Abbie gave him a look. "I... I can't."  
"Do you want me to do anything? Help?" Leon offered, sliding a hand into Abbie's shorts. He sighed, stopping Leon's hand going any further.  
"I told you, I can't, but... Hit me?" Abbie took a deep breath. It was a thing he and Leon did together. When one was feeling upset, or angry, or scared, and they couldn't handle it, they'd go into Leon's special room and be hit, whether it was with a belt, or a whip or anything else, by the other. They said it was beating the emotions out of each other, because 'emotions are unnecessary, feeling them hurts, so you must get rid of them', as Leon said once.  
Leon gave him a doubtful look. "Is it that bad, Ab? Come on then." He took Abbie's hand and led him into the locked room, relocking it behind him. Chains hung down from the ceiling. Coils of rope were hung up, along with dozens of other 'toys' Leon used for his job.  
"Where?"  
"Ceiling." Abbie knew how much he hated being hung from the ceiling, but it would help him get over his emotions.

_____________

Matt rose slowly, hyper aware of the pain like fire on his back. He took one shaky step, then another, then another, until he was walking all the way up to his room, his room that had barely changed at all since he was last here. He looked longingly to the bed wishing for nothing more than to just crash, but he knew from experience that it would be better to wash first, just in case. It would hurt like a bitch, and he would hate every second of it but despite this he still turned the shower on, to a gentle spray and hissed in pain when the water hit his wounds. He watched the red swirl to the drain and wash away, and it hurt but he knew it helped. After a short time he stepped out with relief and wrapped a towel around himself. He collapsed into bed on his front, not bothering to dry or clothe himself and almost immediately he felt himself fall asleep.

_____________

"Clothes on the floor." Leon ordered. Abbie obliged, dropping them behind him. When he was fully unclothed, he stood under the chains and put his arms up. Leon chained his wrists and looked at him.  
"Let's see," Leon said, looking at his toys. "Hmm... Let's go for... This one." He picked up a whip and walked back to Abbie, whose breathing was coming in short gasps. Leon smiled at him, and kissed his neck gently. "Calm down first."  
When Abbie had eventually gained control of his breath and heartbeat, Leon stepped back, giving him one last kiss before flicking his hand with the whip in. The thick leather struck his body, which jolted. Abbie gasped. Leon did it, again.  
"How many is that, Abreice?"  
"T...two."   
Another hit.  
"Three."  
Another, followed by three in quick succession.  
"S...se...seven." He whimpered.  
Leon hit him again three times, pausing after it hit for Abbie to count it. "I'm going to change it now you've reached ten, yes? I'll use your favourite one." Abbie opened one eye that was closed in pain to see Leon rolling up and putting the leather whip back, walking back in front of him with a metal one in hand.  
"Is this one okay?" Leon asked. It was Abbie's favourite because it made him bleed, which wasn't a happy thought, but he couldn't help it. He nodded.  
"Thirty. Thirty separate ones with this."  
Abbie nodded again, squeezing his eyes shut and groaning as the metal attacked his skin.

______________

Matt's nightmares were haunted by images of his dad, of terrible things happening to Abbie, to his friends. The entire next day went by in a blur, his back hurt whenever he moved, the clothing irritated it, he did everything his father said and made every effort not to slip up once. And that night his father got drunk and hit him again, ten this time, and three new burns to add to his collection. He woke up on the third day with the knowledge that it was the day of the party, and that his dad wouldn't be able to do anything today, and that with everything that had happened he'd neglected to phone Abbie, and he didn't want Abbie to be angry with him. So he picked up the phone and prayed that Abbie wouldn't mind that he'd forgotten.  
"Hello?" 

___________

Abbie had heard the phone ringing and answered it immediately. He was stood in the kitchen with Leon. His entire torso hurt when he moved to answer the phone so quickly; he'd only healed the ones that could scar.  
"Hello? Matt? Are you okay?" Hearing Matt's voice filled him relief, but he could tell something was wrong.

___________

Okay? No. Fine wouldn't work either. He couldn't outright lie to him, he wouldn't like that so he replied as honestly as he could.  
"I'm alive. How are you?" Hopefully he'd take the subject change without question.

___________

He stood in shock at Matt's answer. "You're not okay? No, no, no, I cannot allow that. Is it your father? Do I need to come over and slap a bitch?" The way he phrased it was jokingly, but Abbie's voice was deadly serious. If Matt's father had hurt him, then he would do a lot more than slap him. "Where does your father live? I'll come over.

___________

"No, no you don't need to, I'm fine." That was a lie for his own good, he couldn't let Abbie be anywhere near his father. "It's the Halloween party tonight, so tomorrow's my last day here, I can't wait to see you again." That was true, he couldn't wait to get away, away from the pain, Abbie wouldn't hurt him...right? No, of course he wouldn't because he's Abbie and he doesn't hurt people, he won't. He looked at the time he had until breakfast, he was ready, he could spend a bit more time talking to Abbie, but he couldn't be late.

____________

"No, absolute crap. I'm coming. Where does he live? I'll have to get changed, if there's anything in particular you want me to wear, I'm fine with whatever it is, I promise." He walked into the bedroom he'd slept in the last two nights and opened the wardrobe. "Let's see, I have everything ranging from trousers to dresses, what should I wear?"

____________

"You're not coming! You can't and you shouldn't, there is no need. You coming now would complicate things and it wouldn't end well so you can't!" He froze in shock, what had he just said? "I'm sorry, that was terribly rude, I shouldn't have spoken like that to you, you didn't deserve it." He waited in silence for Abbie's answer, fearing the worst.

_________

It was quiet for a moment, mainly because Abbie was trying to recover from the shock. Then, in a quiet voice, he said, "Tell your dad you invited your girlfriend around, and she'll be there at...," he looked at the clock. "One o'clock?" Abbie pulled a purple dress out of the wardrobe.

_________

"Abbie you....you shouldn't...if you've made up your mind I'll tell him, he'll be thrilled, he'll also be extremely misogynistic. I'll send you a map to where we are. I'll be awaiting you're arrival. Abbie...thank you." He wants Abbie there more than anything, but also it'll put him in danger, he should've fought harder against Abbie coming but the truth is he wants him there desperately.

__________

Abbie sighed with relief when Matt gave in. After days of not seeing him, he desperately needed to see him. It was almost half eight, so he had about four hours to get ready, depending on how long it took to get there. He set the dress out on the bed, then turned to look at himself. He hadn't cut his hair in months, so it just brushed his shoulders.  
"I... I need to go in the shower, you'll be okay, Matt, I swear you'll be, okay? Bye, I'll see you soon. Oh, and don't forget to calm down." Abbie smiled before walking into the bathroom and getting the shower going which took a few minutes to warm up.  
Leon tapped his shoulder. "What's happening, hoe?"   
"I'm going to my boyfriend's dad's house, I need to get ready. I could do with your help."

__________

Matt looked at the phone with a sigh, then sent the directions to Abbie's phone, complete with a photo for reference, though he's not sure how he could miss it. He went down to breakfast with the news of Abbie's attendance, and as expected he was ecstatic, couldn't wait to meet her, and that just made him more nervous. Before he left to get ready his father asked him to play the piano for him, one of his favourite pieces, which cut considerable amounts of time out of his getting ready time. He needed to do something with his back, if any of the cuts reopened then people (namely Abbie) were sure to notice, and he couldn't allow that.

____________

Abbie looked at the photo of Matt's house and choked on the glass of water he was drinking. Once he'd recovered, he turned and showed the picture Leon.  
"This is where his dad lives." Abbie said in shock, and Leon gasped. Abbie knew Matt's father was rich, but... That was a freaking mansion.  
Leon helped him in the shower, washing his body and hair with the best products (all strawberry scented, Leon's favourite) and got dried. Leon blow dried his hair, and then helped Abbie put on the dress, and then got started on the makeup.

_____________

Matt looked at his back in the mirror, it was a mess of scabbed over cuts, bruises and the burns, which certainly didn't look good. All of them were going to scar, it was clear, he could heal them but it was too late to stop the scars. The fresh ones were likely bleed again if he wasn't careful, and they'd opened some of the ones from Monday as well. But without a helper there was nothing he could do, he'd simply have to take the chance. He showered quickly, each drop of water on his back felt like a knife, then got out to choose his clothes. He'd be expected to dress smartly, fancy dress wasn't required, so he went with a simple black shirt, long sleeved, and black fitted trousers, if any of the cuts opened it would be difficult to notice, not impossible, but difficult.

_____________

"The colour of the dress brings out your eyes," Leon approved. "You'll make a good impression. Hopefully."  
Abbie stood up and looked at himself in the mirror. His makeup was done, he was wearing the dress, and his hair was long and brushed. He looked as feminine as he could be.  
"Now you need to practise the walk," Leon said. "I know you're good at it, but try to swing your hips a tad more like a female's. Don't put too much effort into it, though."  
Abbie spent ages walking around the house, perfecting his walk. He was determined to help Matt, but he wanted to make a good impression on his father, so he would seem alright for his son to date. Leon tapped his butt.  
"Take that look off your face. You look like you're going to kill someone."  
Abbie gave a faint smile. "Will you drive me there?"  
"Of course, m'lady." Leon smiled, taking Abbie's hand and kissing it. They both laughed.

____________

The start of the party came around quickly and guests began arriving, Matt and his father waited in the foyer, greeting each of their guests and having the staff pass them a glass of champagne. Matt was anxiously awaiting Abbie arriving, hoping he'd pass his dad's standards. Although by this point his dad might be so desperate for an heir that he'd go for any female Matt decided to date, as long as they were female, and could produce offspring, unlike Abbie. He was getting fidgety, which wasn't good, especially in front of his dad, who kept glancing at him.

____________

The drive to Matt's dad's house was quiet. They managed to get there without getting lost, and when they arrived they looked up at the house.  
"That's... Massive." Leon commented. They could see a few people walking in, so Abbie got out of the car. He walked up the path, looking at the house in wonder. The front doors were open, and two men blocked the entrance. They stood out of the way when Abbie walked up to them, letting him pass.  
Abbie glanced around, looking for Matt. He saw him and walked towards him.  
"Matt." He greeted, smiling.

_____________

Matt smiled as Abbie greeted him, a feeling of relief taking over him. But before he could answer Abbie himself his father came up behind him placing a heavy hand on his shoulder, which made him tense.  
"Abbie, I assume. It's wonderful to meet you." He smiled his business smile, his most charming, trying to come off friendly, he seemed more fake than anything, at least in Matt's eyes.

__________

"Yes sir," Abbie said, bowing his head. "It's wonderful to meet you too. This place is... So amazing." And it wasn't a lie. The grounds were pretty, like the house itself, and people were dressed up nicely for this... Whatever it was. He assumed it was the Halloween party Matt had mentioned. Abbie suddenly had an attack of worry, was he dressed right, was his hair okay, did he look feminine enough? He assumed yes, he couldn't let his anxiety show.

___________

"Thank you, I take great pride in the condition of my gardens." Not that he does any of it himself, Matt thinks. "I'm glad to have seen you, but I should leave you two lovebirds alone, I'll be back to talk more later of course." He left after giving Matt's shoulder a warning squeeze, which sent pain spiking through his body as it was over one of the burns, which his father knew of course.  
"Thank you for coming today, it means a lot." Matt said after he was gone.

__________

"Like I wouldn't. Why aren't you okay? Is it him?" Abbie asked, jerking his head towards his father. "Did he hurt you?" If he had hurt Matt, Abbie wouldn't be happy. Just looking at Mr Axfield made Abbie want to snap his neck, he knew he had hurt Matt before, and if he had hurt him again, Abbie wouldn't hesitate to find the best opportunity to hurt him back.

__________

Matt dropped his head, he didn't want to admit, but he couldn't lie either. Instead he offered Abbie his arm.  
"Walk with me? We can go outside, less crowded. Father won't mind as long as he knows I'm with you." Matt rolls his eyes, which feels good because he hadn't been able to do that and it was often his natural reaction to things. 

___________

Abbie noticed Matt not answering the question, but dropped it. He took Matt's arm, and as they walked out, he concentrated on swaying his hips just enough, not too much. The air was fresh and it was a lot less crowded, as Matt had said. He brushed a stray hair away from his face.  
"So, Matt." Abbie said, hoping Matt would tell him what had happened.

___________

Matt sat down on a bench, even now though he wouldn't let himself slouch, he's not allowed.  
"I'm fine, honestly, I just, I needed to see you, I needed a break. It's.....harder....dealing with it that is....it never used to be this hard." He shivered involuntarily.

__________

He sat down next to him. Abbie went to bite his lip, but remembered the lipstick and bit the inside of his cheek instead. He twisted his mother's wedding ring on his middle finger around. His ring finger felt painfully bare, he'd given his own wedding ring to Ronnie.  
"Are you cold?" Abbie asked, tentatively reaching out and touching Matt's shoulder.

___________

Matt tensed, it didn't hurt, not that light, but it wasn't comfortable at all.  
"I'm fine thank you Abbie." His smile is strained, but that's not surprising he hadn't been able to get a true smile out since he arrived here. "How are you?" 

__________

"We're not talking about me." Abbie said, retracting his hand; Matt seemed clearly uncomfortable. "I'm feeling very girly, though, if you're dying to know. I haven't worn a dress in a while." He closed his eyes and felt the light breeze on his face. "It's very unusual. Now I'm out of the way, what have you been up to?"

__________

"Nothing of importance really, just pottering around the mansion, nothing interesting. Having conversations with dear old dad." He couldn't help the bitter tone that entered his voice, how could he? "You look lovely in that dress by the way, the colour suits you." 

_________

Abbie blushed. "Thank you. I'll try to wear this colour again sometime, then. And I assume 'dear old dad' doesn't know about me." He tapped the bench. "Or that if he has hurt you, I will hurt him." Abbie muttered, staring straight at Matt, looking him in the eyes with a serious look in his own.

_________

"No he doesn't know about you, and no you aren't going to do anything, you can't do anything, so don't try." As much as it delighted him to know Abbie would do that for him, trying to do anything wouldn't end well.

___________

He gave Matt a look, thinking for a moment. Abbie bit the inside of his lip nervously. "Alright then," he sighed after a while. "Let's go back to the party, I am desperate to talk with your father." That was a lie, but he didn't know what else to say or do.

___________

"Okay, let's go find him." The party had migrated to the ballroom, where people were dancing and talking. They found his dad talking with a group of men his age.  
"Father?"

___________

Abbie followed Matt inside, looking around at the people. When he saw Edmund, Abbie smiled a little and bowed his head, walking behind Matt.  
"Hello, sir."

___________

His father smiled at them as he turned around, clearly the excitement of his son having a girlfriend hadn't worn off yet, which was certainly good for them.  
"How are you enjoying the party?" The question was directed at Abbie.

___________

"I love it, thank you. Matt took me on a tour around your gardens, they're very beautiful. This party itself is... Splendid. You are a good host, sir." Abbie brushed a stray hair away from his face and gave another smile.

____________

He was relieved by the smile on his dad's face, so far he seemed to approve of Abbie, which was good.  
"So tell me the story of how you two met, I'm very curious."

____________

"Oh, we met in the school library. I wanted to read a new book, and Matt graciously helped me find one," Abbie glanced at Matt. It wasn't much of a lie, they couldn't tell Edmund the truth. "We just carried on talking from there, and a few weeks ago Matt asked me to be his girlfriend." He smiled.

____________

"So you work at the school, are you a teacher?" Abbie can't tell his dad what he teaches, he won't like it all. In his opinion a woman wouldn't be fit to teach defence against the dark arts, which is a load of crap, but he can't tell Abbie that now, he'll just have to hope for the best.

____________

Abbie remembered what Matt had said about Edmund being sexist, but he couldn't lie about that, could he? "I teach duelling, sir. Defence against the dark arts." He bit his lip and hoped for the best.

____________

The smile didn't drop, but Matt noticed the change in his father.  
"Defence against the dark arts? And is that difficult for you?" Matt knew what he really wanted to add to the end of that 'is that difficult for you as a woman?' But of course he was going to try and stay polite, he had a reputation to uphold.

_____________

Abbie glanced at Matt. "Yes, sir. There is a lot of work to mark and plenty of stances to teach. I often wish I had chosen to teach a less demanding subject, like herbology, for example. But the pay is good, so I work my hardest at it."

_____________

His father seemed placated by Abbie's answer, enough to drop the line of questioning, but Matt knew he'd have to deal with it later. The rest of the conversation went as before, his dad questioning Abbie on just about everything, then they went and talked to other people, Matt playing the good son with Abbie at his arm, until the end of the night.

__________

Guests were starting to leave the party and return to their own homes. Abbie knew he had to do the same, but he didn't want to leave Matt. He tapped Matt's arm, thinking, and then walked up to Edmund.  
"Sir, it was an honour to meet you. This party was amazing. Your son speaks very highly of you, you should be proud." He bowed his head.

___________

"It was an honour to meet you to, I'm happy Matthew has finally found someone he likes. Matthew why don't you show Abbie out."   
"Yes sir." Matt walked Abbie to the door, away from his dad, so they could say goodbye.

_____________

Abbie turned and waved at Edmund, then looked at Matt. "If he hurts you, tell me. Promise?" He cupped Matt's face and pressed a feather like kiss on his forehead. "I'll see you soon. Do you want me to pick you up from here?"

_____________

"I'd love that, tomorrow night, 8:30? Is that okay? Thank you for being here tonight I've missed you." He didn't bother to promise to tell him if his dad had been hurting him, because he would have already broken that promise.

______________

"That's fine, I've missed you too. I'll see you tomorrow." Abbie looked at Matt, wondering why he hadn't promised. His hands cupping Matt's face stroked his face absentmindedly. "Promise?" He wouldn't leave until he had an answer.

______________

Matt froze, he didn't want to promise, but if he didn't it would just worry Abbie more.  
"Promise. I can't wait for tomorrow." That second part was at least true, which made him feel a bit better.

______________

Happy with his answer, Abbie kissed Matt's forehead again gently, then walked down the path. Halfway down the path, he turned and blew a kiss to him, before continuing walking towards Leon's sleek black car that was waiting for him.

______________

Matt's mood decreased rapidly as he watched Abbie leave, he should go upstairs to his room now, to avoid his dad. Most of the guests had already left, he shouldn't mind if Matt disappears for the rest of the night. So he goes to his room and gets dressed for bed, checking his back quickly, luckily none of them had opened. Then he collapsed onto his bed, which was probably one of the only pros about being in this house, the beds are really comfortable.

______________

The drive back to Leon's house was relatively quiet. They got back and Abbie pulled off the dress.  
"I'm gonna go get this make up off, thanks for that Leon, I'll be a minute."  
Leon nodded and put the kettle on, making Abbie's coffee strong, how he liked it.  
After Abbie had cleaned himself up, he and Leon sat on the couches in the living room, drinking their coffee.  
"So how was it?" Leon asked.  
"Okay, I guess. The house and gardens are impressive but, I don't know... Something just seems off about that place."

______________

He went down to breakfast as normal the next morning, and as expected his father grilled him about Abbie, anything and everything he couldn't ask at the party without seeming rude. He had more than a few comments about a woman not being able to teach defence against the dark arts. That afternoon they did what they normally did, they sat in the study and Edmund smoked his cigar and Matt read, the chair irritating his back the entire time. They had a brief visit from one of his dad's rich friends, who commented on how much Matt had changed since he last saw him. And after the man left his father drank, and he drank rather a lot. At six, two and a half hours until Abbie came for him, his father found something to get angry at Matt for, and he beat him with the belt again, his father did always enjoy using the belt. After it was done, ten hits later and two new burns from his cigar, he went to his room to clean them before Abbie came.

____________

Abbie and Leon hadn't done much all day, Leon had insisted on watching cheesy chic flicks and eating ice cream until Matt came.  
At six, Leon helped him dress up again. He wore another purple dress, this one was darker than the one before, and had a simple pattern. Leon aided him in putting on makeup and doing his hair. Abbie took a deep breath, impatient to see Matt.

____________

At eight, when Abbie should have already left to be on time to pick him up his father came to talk.  
"I have your wand here, so you'll be ready for when you have to leave, however you are not to heal yourself or let anyone else, if you heal magically you will learn nothing." Matt felt the magic under those words, which meant even if he tried to heal them he would be unable. A simple command like that one would last at least a week probably maybe more.

___________

Abbie was driving to Matt's house, remembering the route. He arrived at exactly half eight, and walked up the path to the front doors. He knocked on them three times, hearing them echo on the other side. He was desperate to see Matt again.

___________

The knock resounded through the house, and Matt hurried, bags in tow, to get away from this house and to Abbie, he was desperate. He opened the doors hurriedly to see Abbie on the other side, and could almost cry with relief that he was here, but he wouldn't of course, not while he was still in the house.

___________

Abbie smiled when the doors opened to reveal Matt behind them. It seemed like he hadn't seen him in ages, but in reality it had been a day. He kissed Matt's forehead, taking half of his bags for him.  
"Let's go, Matt." He started walking down the path.

___________  
Matt followed him, not bothering to look back, he didn't need to know if his father was watching them, he didn't need to think about his father again until Christmas, and he wouldn't. They put his bags in the back of the car then Matt took the passenger seat, he sat straight to avoid putting pressure on his back, which was hurting horribly from earlier.

______________

Leon had had to go to work, but lent Abbie his car. They drove off, away from the house.  
"I don't think we'll go to Leon's home yet, I want to show you something first." Abbie said, pulling out his wand, getting rid of the makeup and changing his clothes for a purple shirt and shorts. They drove a bit more before Abbie grabbed Matt's hand. "Is this okay?" He asked, looking at Matt for a moment and kissing his hand before returning his attention to the road.

______________

"This is good." He squeezed Abbie's hand, holding on tight. "What is it you want to show me?" He tried to lean back a bit, to seem more casual, it only hurt a bit so stayed that way, trying to not let Abbie know that he was in any pain at all.

______________

"It's just a place I found when I was younger. This is the perfect time to see it, the moonlight makes it beautiful." Abbie traced circles on Matt's hand with his thumb. After a few more minutes, Abbie parked the car in front of a big forest. "We have to walk it from here, but it's not far." He got out of the car, locking it when Matt was out. He took hold of Matt's hand again, and then walked into the woods.

______________

He followed Abbie, being pulled along by his hand. He was curious about the place, and something like that might be a wonderful distraction, a way to forget everything else that's going on, and that's exactly what he wants. He squeezed Abbie hand again, wishing he could never let go again.

_____________

Abbie turned and smiled at Matt, before pushing some leaves away and walking into a gap in the trees. It was a small circle where the trees didn't grow, instead small bright white flowers laced the floor. Moonlight reached this small meadow, the flowers rebounding the light.  
"Here we are." He rubbed Matt's hand.

_____________

Matt stared in wonder at the clearing.  
"It's beautiful. It's really really amazing." He stepped closer to Abbie, beaming at him.

__________

He smiled at Matt's response. "No one ever comes here, so it's always a nice place to come and think." Abbie stroked Matt's face with his spare hand gently. "I've missed you." He said.

__________

"I've missed you too, I was only there for four days but it felt like an eternity. It helped, you coming to the party last night, thank you so much for that." Matt smiled, the most genuine smile he'd had in days, and all thanks to Abbie.

______________

"You're very welcome. Anytime. I mean it." He kissed Matt's forehead, letting his lips linger for a moment. He rested his own forehead against Matt's, looking into his eyes.

______________

Matt placed a chaste kiss on Abbie's lips.   
"Thank you, so much, this place is beautiful. But it's also cold, and I'm tired, take me somewhere I can sleep?" Hopefully now that he's out of the house the nightmares will stop and he'll be able to get a good nights sleep, or at least they won't be as severe.

______________

"Oh, yes, sorry." He pulled Matt's hand gently, walking back to the car. They got in and Abbie started driving. He checked the time. "Leon might be home when we get back, like I said before, he's strange but funny. I'm sure you'll like him." They arrived and Abbie locked the car when Matt was out. He opened to door to Leon's home, closing it once Matt was in.  
"Lee? We're back!" Abbie called.  
Leon bounced down the corridor, stopping just in front of Matt and kissing Matt's cheeks. "Hiya! My name's Leon," he kissed Matt's hands. "How are you? What's your name?" Leon's brown eyes were lit up with excitement, and his green hair bounced when he jumped.

______________

"Hello, I'm Matt, it's nice to meet you." Matt assumed this was Leon, his general excitement was strange. And the kissing was weird, he didn't mind as long as he didn't go anywhere near his back.

____________

"Oh!" Leon gasped, placing a hand on his heart. "How polite! Hey, hey, Ab, look at this." He pulled a fifty pound note out of his pocket. "I got fifty pounds tip! Have you ever seen such a wonderful thing?"  
Abbie laughed. "No, Lee, I haven't. We're going to get warmed up, okay?" He took hold of Matt's hand and pulled him down the corridor.  
"Of course! Do you want some hot chocolate, Matt?" Leon called, walking into the kitchen.

____________

"Yes, please!" Abbie lead him through the corridors to a bedroom, where he sat on the bed with a yawn. "He's very...enthusiastic."

____________

Abbie shrugged, half smiling. "That's Lee." He opened the wardrobe and threw Matt some baggy trousers and a big t shirt and jumper, getting the same for him. He pulled his shirt off and immediately froze. He'd only healed the whip marks that would scar, he still had deep purple bruises lacing his torso. Abbie put the big top on quickly, then pulled his shorts down. "The bathroom is there," he pointed. "If you want a shower."

____________

He'd already had a shower before he came, he didn't want to go through that again just yet. More importantly he swears he just saw bruises on torsos, which didn't make sense, he's not the one who just spent four days at Matt's dad's house, he shouldn't have any bruises.  
"No, I don't need to." He was still looking at Abbie strangely, which was rude.  
_____________

Abbie shrugged, feeling uncomfortable under Matt's stare. "Okay then. I'll leave you to get changed. I'll be in the living room, it's opposite the kitchen." He put on the trousers quickly, grabbed the jumper and left, walking into the living room.  
"Sup, hoe?" Leon asked, coming up behind him and hugging him.  
"Nothing. Thank you."

_____________

Matt got changed carefully, as to not disturb any of the injuries. He performed a spell to hide them, it wouldn't stop the pain but at least other people wouldn't be able to see them by accident, it's what he always did with his old scars. He left the room and found the living room easily enough, he smiled at Abbie as he walked in.

____________

Leon handed him a mug of hot chocolate, smiling at him, then flopped down on the couch next to Abbie.  
"So, ladies..." Leon said, shuffling around to get comfy.  
"Are you working tomorrow night, Lee?"  
"Yep, bitch."  
Abbie smiled at him, then sipped his coffee.

_____________

The casual insults were jarring, but he'd been in a house where even the slightest sign of disrespect was punished, so maybe it wasn't that bad? He kept quiet while they talked not wanting to disturb, and he didn't really know Leon that well anyway, only what little he'd seen and what Abbie had told him.

___________

Leon yawned. "Well, I'm spent. Pleasing men is so difficult." He sighed, then stood up, kissing Abbie's cheek. "I'm going to bed, night shitbag." He left.  
Abbie drank the rest of his coffee and looked at Matt. "Do you want to sleep with me, or in the spare bedroom?"

___________

"Can I have the spare bedroom please?" He didn't look at Abbie, he probably wouldn't be happy that he wanted to sleep separately, but he had to be careful, if he hurt his back in the night Abbie might notice something's wrong.

____________

Abbie nodded. "It's next to mine." He stood up and stretched. "I'm going to bed, make sure you turn the lights off when you do." He walked down the corridor and collapsed on the bed, exhausted. It wasn't long until he fell asleep.

____________

Matt stayed up a little longer, just thinking, before he went to bed. When he got into bed he fell asleep immediately, unfortunately the nightmares hadn't gotten any better.


	8. Chapter 8

Abbie woke up to Leon jumping on him.  
"Wake up you lazy sod! Get up, fatass!"  
Abbie groaned. Leon was bouncing on his bruises, he knew he was. "Why?"  
"Because! It's a bright, beautiful day asshole, make the most of it you twat, or else." Leon gave him a playful glare before dancing down the hallway into the kitchen.

____________________

Matt woke up like clockwork, the same time he'd had to wake up everyday, at eight, then he got dressed for the day. He almost pulled out the smart clothes he had to wear everyday around dad, until he realised he didn't have to. So he pulled on a casual t-shirt and jeans, comfortable clothes, which was a wonderful change that brightened his morning considerably. When he left the room to the small house instead of the mansion his day seemed to get even better, what a wonderful way to start the day. He made his way to the kitchen in search of food.

_______________

"Matt, my lovely!" Leon cried when he saw Matt, kissing his cheeks. "You are looking for food, yes?" He pointed to a cupboard. "In there are breakfast things, if you want anything in particular, let me know." He poked his head out of the kitchen and yelled down the hallway. "Abreice you fucker get your ass here now!"

_______________

Inappropriate language was like music to his ears. He rummaged through the cupboards for breakfast things, he'd decided to just have cereals, a not fancy breakfast. If he could ignore the occasional (more like constant) pain in his back his morning was going perfectly, it was like a dream. A dream he definitely doesn't want to wake up from, ever.

______________

Abbie appeared in the doorway a moment later, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "What's the rush, Lee?" He said blearily.  
Leon pounced on him, wrapping his arms and legs around him. "Happy late birthday was all I wanted to say, you grumpy shit." He kissed Abbie's cheek.  
Abbie rolled his eyes, messing Leon's green hair up with his hand. "Thanks. Morning, Matt." He smiled.

______________

Matt practically beamed, he was so happy, it was strange, he doesn't remember being happy the first time he got out, when he went to university, but at that point he had no reason to get out other than to get away, now he has Abbie there and it's amazing. He's pretty sure his smile just increased in brightness by forty percent, which shouldn't have been possible.  
"Good morning, did you sleep well?" 

________________

"I've had worse," Abbie said, smiling and picking up an apple. "You?" Leon clinging to him was putting pressure on his bruises, but he tried to ignore it. He was pleased Matt seemed so happy, especially after being with his dad for so long. Leon was smiling at Matt, and he was happy his best friend and boyfriend seemed to be getting along.

________________

"I slept fine." Not actually the truth but he wasn't going to let that dampen his mood. "The bed wasn't even that comfortable!" He said it like that was incredible. He usually wouldn't be happy about an uncomfortable bed, but it was so different to the ridiculously comfy one he had at his dad's. It was so different there's no way he could mistake it for the mansions rooms.

____________

Leon gasped. Abbie giggled.  
"Are you insulting the level of comfort my beds supply? And Ab, stop laughing, you don't complain about them when you're tied up on them."  
Abbie stopped mid laugh and stared at Leon. "That was completely unnecessary."  
Leon laughed and let go of Abbie, dropping onto the floor. "Well, I apologise for them not being comfy Matt," he shrugged, smiling kindly. "I don't really spend my wages on stuff like that. You spent the night in the spare bedroom, yes? That is the least comfortable one in this house. If you want a less uncomfortable one, sleep with Abbie, mine may be the comfiest but it's mine."

_____________

Matt stopped for a moment at the tying up comment, is that something these guys did...do? He quickly moved past that thought, if they wanted to they could he had no right to stop them.   
"I'm not complaining, not in the slightest, the beds in the mansion were far too comfortable." He carried on the conversation, because he couldn't dwell on the comment.

______________

Abbie nodded, and so did Leon.  
"Are you two doing anything today?" Leon asked, taking the apple out of Abbie's hand and biting it before handing it back.  
"I'm going to hit you." Abbie said, eating the apple.  
"I'll let you." Leon said, taking another bite out of the apple.  
"For the love of God, stop!" He backed away from Leon.  
"That's what you said." Leon smirked, then sloped into the living room.

_______________

Matt stared into the dregs of his cereal, those comments were harder to ignore. Did he mind? Did he have any right to? Abbie had known Leon a lot longer and if that's what they do, that's what they do. But he thought Abbie would at least tell him of something like this, your friend beating on you for mutual fun was probably something that should be made known at the beginning of a relationship.

___________

Abbie rolled his eyes and ate his apple in silence. He noticed Matt staring into his cereal. "Are you okay? Just ignore him." He smiled.

___________

"Do you though? Is that a thing you guys do? It's not a problem, I just...need to know." It wasn't a problem, not really. He's fine with it, especially if it's only for the pain, if they're not romantically involved does it really matter that they do that together, of course it doesn't. He tries a smile, it might come out a little weak but it should get his point across.

____________

He thought for a moment. "Yes we do. But we haven't since we last saw each other which was the last day of the summer holidays. Is that a problem? I'm sorry." What he and Leon had wasn't anything special, they were literally just fuck buddies, no strings attached except for the fact they were best friends.

____________

"It's fine, not a problem, I just needed to know." His smile becomes a little more genuine. "So, what have you been doing while I've been stuck in the mansion of doom." He said the last bit jokingly, though it really wasn't funny, or a joke.

_____________

"Leon," he joked, then went serious. "Just kidding. I didn't do much, just been around here. I'm officially divorced." He smiled, lifting up his left hand that was bare except for his mother's wedding ring. He'd sorted the papers out and seen the woman about the divorce Tuesday, and now he was unmarried. Yay.

_____________

"Congratulations? It sounds like you had more fun than I did." That really wasn't difficult though. "So, are we do anything today?"

______________

He shrugged, leaning against the sink. "Do you want to do anything? I don't mind."  
Leon popped his head around the door. "I don't care what you do, but I have a customer coming between nine and ten tonight." He disappeared.  
Abbie nodded. "We'll go out tonight then, but what do you want to do now?"

______________

"I...don't know, is there anything you want to do?" He finally had choice over what he did with his day but had no idea what to do.

______________

They ended up watching movies all day and when the clock struck nine, they were sat in Leon's car, deciding where to go. "We could have dinner out, if you'd like." Abbie offered. "Or... Just go for a walk around the park. You choose."

______________

"Let's go for a walk, there should be some street vendors, we can get food from." So they drove to a park, and went for a walk arm in arm.

_____________

The night air was cold, Abbie pulled his long coat tighter around him. A few couples were milling around, a man and woman were cuddling on a bench, two ladies were sat on the grass relaxing. He sighed.

_____________

They had food from number of different vendors and walked through the park talking about inconsequential things, until they had managed to waste an entire hour doing practically nothing.  
"Ready to go back?"

 

______________

Abbie nodded, and they got into the car.  
When they were back at Leon's house, they found Leon half off the sofa.  
Abbie poked him. "Lee, you okay?" He asked worriedly.  
Leon groaned, opening one eye. When he saw it was Abbie, he grabbed his collar and pulled him towards him, burying his face into Abbie's chest.  
"Mm... Fine." Leon mumbled.

_______________

Matt looked at Leon worriedly, then to Abbie. He skulked off to his room, his back was hurting him, the top was irritating his back and he wanted to have a shower. When he was in the bathroom he dropped the spell and checked the wounds, it seemed some of them were bleeding again, and the bruises were large and ugly, he sighed heavily before stepping under the shower.

________________

Abbie sat on the couch and put Leon's head on his lap. He covered Leon with a blanket, stroking his hair.  
"Are you okay, Lee?"  
"It hurts," he moaned. "I'll be fine. Cancelled work tomorrow."  
"Okay, just relax, yes? Or do you want a warm bath when Matt's out?"  
"Mm... Please."

________________

He hurried with his shower, eager to get out. He threw on some pyjamas and crashed onto the bed on his front. Not being able to heal was getting annoying, he wanted to not have to be careful anymore but it seems that could take some time.

___________

He heard Matt get out, so he picked Leon up and carried him into the bathroom. He sat him on the toilet and ran the bath, then poked his head around the spare bedroom.  
"Is it okay if I bath Lee? He can't really do it himself."

___________

"Go ahead." He mumbled into the pillow with a vague wave of his hand and a yawn. He needed sleep, he didn't get much rest because of the nightmares.

___________

Abbie nodded, then went into the bathroom. He bathed Leon, who didn't really respond to Abbie touching him. Once he'd finished bathing him, he dressed him and took him to bed. Just as he stood up to leave, Leon reached out and grabbed Abbie's hand.  
"Just stay... For a bit."  
Abbie laid down next to him, and eventually fell asleep.

___________

Matt woke up early next morning from rolling onto his back. He woke up a with a gasp and shot up, which made it hurt even more. He stood up quickly taking deep breaths to calm himself, the pain was still there but it was easier to process. He left the room to go to the kitchen and get some tea, he was the first awake.

_____________

Abbie woke up to Leon slapping him.  
"Come on, you twat, we need to get up."  
He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Are you feeling better, Lee?" Leon nodded, and thanked him. They got up together and walked into the kitchen.  
"Oh, hey, good morning Matt."

______________

"Good morning, how are you feeling Leon?" He took another sip of his tea, letting it's warmth seep through him. He was still tired but better, the tea helped, tea always helps. He was tired, he'd woken up at a ridiculous time and this was his third cup of tea.

_____________

Leon nodded. "I feel fine, thank you." He grabbed two slices of bread and ate one while putting the other in the toaster.  
Abbie sat on the counter and started eating an apple.  
"Oh guys, I'm going shopping when I'm ready, if that's okay." Leon ate the bread from the toaster, not bothering to wait for it to toast.

_____________

Leon changed quickly and left.  
"Shall we sit in the living room?" Matt stood up and moved without waiting for Abbie to follow, he brought his tea.

______________

Abbie sat on the couch. "So... Tell me straightforward," this definitely wasn't the correct phrasing, but Abbie didn't care. "Did you break the promise?" He said slowly, tapping his lip with his finger.

______________

The promise. He couldn't answer that, he'd broken the promise from the moment they made it. He couldn't play dumb, Abbie would know. He'd have to lie and hope Abbie would believe it.  
"No, I'm perfectly okay." He tagged on a smile on the end to make it more believable.

___________

Abbie gave a fake smile. "That is absolutely wonderful. Unfortunately for you," he stood up and walked in front of Matt, raising an eyebrow. "I have experience with lying people." He reached out and tilted Matt's head up. "Your eyes dilated. You look nervous. And your heart rate is...," with the hand that was on Matt's chin, he placed two fingers just under his jawbone. "Increased." Abbie stared at him. "Now tell me. Did you break your promise?"

___________

"What right do you have to do that? Is it too much to simply trust me?" Matt stood up and backed away from Abbie. Knowing he had in fact been lying just made him feel worse. And he felt like a hypocrite, there were times when he hadn't trusted Abbie and used his own to check, and wasn't that just as invasive?

_____________

"Oh, you're using trust against me?" Abbie raised an eyebrow. "Do you know what trust is? Let me show you trust, if you're so intent on trusting." He took his shirt off and pointed at the bruises. "It's believing that a person won't hurt you, will stop when you tell them to and is willing to talk to you. Now, don't get me wrong, I understand you might need some time to relax after seeing your dad again, but... Oh, forget it. What reason do we have to trust each other? It's the base, the foundation of relationships, but..." He trailed off, biting his lip. How could he get Matt to see it from his point of view?

_____________

He had seen bruises on Abbie the other day, he hadn't imagined it. Why did Abbie have bruises? He ended up frozen, staring on at the bruises on Abbie's torso, they shouldn't be there. And why was he so angry? If Matt didn't want to tell him then he should accept that except that isn't what Matt did when Abbie didn't want to tell him so that made him a damn hypocrite which he isn't okay with. But Abbie did keep secrets, Matt may have pushed but Abbie didn't tell so Matt shouldn't have to either. Abbie was right, they could barely trust each other, they should be able to tell each other these things, he was horrified with himself.

____________

Abbie watched Matt in silence for a minute, then sighed irritably. How could they get this mess sorted out? How could they trust each other? Then he had an idea. It may help increase the levels of trust between them, but Matt had to be willing. "Come on, I need you to do something." Abbie walked down the corridor to the door that was always locked, where Leon and Abbie took turns hitting each other and making it up with sex. He knew where the key was, so he unlocked the door and stepped inside, looking at Matt.

____________

Matt followed Abbie warily into the room, the room that looked like a goddamn torture chamber, an honest to god torture chamber. Why was this in the house? He looked at the walls, he was breathing heavily he saw the belts, and then he wasn't sure he was breathing at all. He waited for Abbie to say something, to explain.

___________

"I know one way we can learn to trust each other." He pointed to the chains hanging from the ceiling. "But you must be willing. I'll be chained from the ceiling, and you'll hit me. The trust comes from the safe words. 'Red' for stop immediately, I can't take it and 'yellow' for slow down and give me a minute. Yes? Are you okay with doing this?"

___________

He couldn't breathe, he needed to answer Abbie, but he couldn't breathe. He couldn't form the words needed to answer and it was making it worse. So instead of answering he did the next best thing, he fled, he ran from the room like it was on fire. He ran into his room and sat in the far corner, putting far too much pressure on his back for it to be comfortable. He needed to breathe, that's what his therapist said, whenever he got like this, started having a panic attack he needed to breathe. But breathing was difficult, and it hurt because his back was against the wall so he needed to move away from the wall.

___________

Abbie pulled a confused face, then rolled his eyes. He couldn't be bothered to mess around anymore. He'd heard where Matt had run to, so locked the door to the room and walked into the living room. He sat down on the couch, tapping his lips with his fingers. He felt the urge to be hit grow, he groaned and curled up. He'll ask Leon to do it when he got home later.

___________

It took Matt a while to calm down, he regulated his breathing and thought happy thoughts which was very difficult but he found something else to concentrate on and did that. He ended up sat on his bed performing different spells, simply having his wand in his hand helped because when he's there he isn't allowed it with him, not unless his dad needs something, and he'd never be made to do such pointless spells as these for his dad, so it was good. He'd probably confused Abbie, it had been a while since he'd been that bad, but he didn't want to move, so he didn't, he'd go out later, he definitely would.

_______________

The doors opened and Leon came in with a few bags of shopping, which he dropped on the kitchen counters then walked into the living room to see Abbie curled up on the couch.  
"Ab? Abbie? Are you okay?" He asked, rushing to his side.  
Abbie clung to him, breathing in gasps, pressing his body against Leon's. "Hit me, please. Please, Leon, I need you to..."  
"What? What about Matt?"  
"No, no, just..." Abbie tugged at Leon's shirt, pulling him close. Leon sighed.   
"Fine, but only a little bit, okay?"   
Abbie nodded.

________________

Matt tried to focus on the magic still, rather than the arrival of Leon and what they were talking about, he may have messed up a spell or two but none with serious consequences so it didn't really matter. He could hear them moving around outside the door, he couldn't think about it though because it made sense for Abbie to go to Leon, he's his best friend so of course he'd turn to him for comfort when he needed it, that's what friends are for. He should probably call his friends, they were always fun to talk to.

_____________

Once they were inside and the door was locked again, Leon pushed him against the wall roughly, yanking Abbie's clothes off.  
After about half an hour, Leon unlocked the chains and caught Abbie before he fell to the floor.  
"Was that alright?" Leon asked, stroking Abbie's hair.  
"Yes, thank you." Abbie replied with a hoarse voice. He'd asked Leon to use his favourite whip, and also a razor blade or two (Leon had many kinks and fetishes). He stood up, wrapping his arms around Leon to keep his balance.  
"Let's get your sexy ass into the shower." They walked into the bathroom. Leon started the shower, winked at him, then left to change his blood splatted clothes and find Matt.

______________

Matt was making everything in the room around him float (including the bed he was sat on) when he heard them leave the room, and then when the shower started running. He kept the floating up because it required so much of his concentration that he didn't have to think about other things, especially as he was doing it with wordless magic, which made it harder and a lot more fun. He didn't even bother to put the furniture down when he heard the door open.

___________

Leon smiled at Matt. "Hey, Matt. Are you okay? Do you want anything?" He closed the door behind him and looked at Matt in the eye. "I understand you and Abbie had a little falling out. Do you want to talk about it? Or comfort food, I have ice cream in the freezer if you want some."

___________

He dropped all the furniture gently.  
"I'm quite fine, thank you. Much better now." He hesitated a moment before continuing. "How's Abbie?"

___________

"She's had worse. But I'm not here to talk about him. I want to know about you." Leon sat cross legged on the bed in front of Matt. "What's up?" He tilted his head, hoping to get a straight and honest answer from him.

___________

"I'm honestly okay now, nothing needs to be talked about." More like he didn't want to talk about anything, they just tried talking, it didn't end well, no need to try it again so soon.

___________

Leon sighed. "My job revolves around people, so being able to read emotions is important. I find myself rather skilled at it. My point is, you don't seem okay. If you don't want to talk to me, I understand, we've only known each other a few days, but talk to Abbie. He means well, but sometimes doesn't come across the way he intends. Basically, just don't give up, Matt, because however he seems to you, you may seem to him. It could just be a misunderstanding." He smiled kindly. 

___________

Matt considered Leon for a moment, so different to his usual behaviour, and found that he trusted him more than he probably should for someone he barely knew. It would probably be easier to tell someone who's opinion he wouldn't have to worry about afterwards, right?  
"Abreice made me promise I'd say if anything happened...but I couldn't...because we were still at the party and I didn't want anything to happen and by the time the promise happened I'd already broken it. And Abreice asked about it and how could I answer...I didn't want to say...but then Abreice was saying that we didn't trust each other because I'd lied, and it wasn't the first time we hadn't trusted each other anyway. But then Abreice showed me that room, and I couldn't breathe so I left but I didn't get a chance to explain, and I don't know how to explain it...I don't want to have to explain it to Abreice."

_______________

"Oh, my," Leon said, rubbing his head. "That's a big mess. Well... From what I've heard from both of you, it seems to me like you both care about each other deeply. Abbie wants to help and know when you've been hurt, but you already broke the promise and don't know how to explain it to her because you don't know how she'll react." He sighed, thinking. "Well, I'd hate to sound like a primary school teacher, but apologising to each other sounds like good way to start. Your lack of trust in one another needs to be improved. The way Ab suggested it may seem a bit extreme, but if it gets him to trust you... How about you think of an exercise to build up your trust, and then when you're ready, you try doing Ab's way?"

_________________

"You're supposed to be the strange one, stop coming up with sane ideas that will probably work." He sighed with resignation, he'd have to talk to Abbie there's no way a round it. He did just admit it to his best friend so even if he opts not to there's still a chance Abbie will find out, so surely better to hear it from him, even if it won't be fun. "Thank you Leon, you're a good listener." 

_____________

Leon smiled. "You're very welcome, Matt. And I'm sorry you had to see my room when you weren't ready," he frowned. "Who said I was strange?" He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his face. He was glad Matt had confided in him and that hopefully Matt and Abbie would fix their little... Fallout.

_____________

"Who do you think? Should I go apologise now? Get it over and done with? I think that's probably for the best." He took a deep breath, then listened to see if the shower was still on, Abbie had gotten out. "Thank you again Leon." He left quickly then knocked on Abbie's door.

__________

Leon smiled, and walked into the kitchen.  
Abbie groaned. He was laying face down on his bed, half asleep. "Come in." The blinds were shut and the room was dark. The cuts from the razor blades had only just stopped bleeding, and he hadn't bothered to put some clothes on yet, he'd just collapsed on the duvet and pulled a blanket over himself.

___________

"Hello? I wanted to talk, but if now's a bad time then I can wait till later, if you want to sleep." He's not sure he can wait, he might end up talking himself out of it which is exactly what he doesn't need right now. He needs to get this out in the open so they don't have it hanging over them, which wouldn't be good at all.

___________

"No, it's fine." Abbie sat up, subconsciously covering his body with the blanket. "You can come in." He rubbed his eyes and shook his head, trying to wake himself up. He needed to apologise to Matt himself, but what did Matt want to talk about?

___________

"I'm sorry for lying, and for running off. I should've told you, I should've talked to you, but I wasn't sure how." He sat gingerly across from Abbie, head bowed in apology, he felt kind of terrible. Now he was prepared to tell Abbie anything he wanted to know.

___________

"I'm sorry for not coming after you and not understanding. I'm sorry for... Everything." He slumped forward, his head in his hands, feeling awful about what he'd done. He should've warned Matt about the room, instead of just showing it him with telling him anything about it, or that it was that at all. "I'm so sorry."

___________

"You have nothing to be sorry for, it doesn't matter now. But I...I should have told you, and I think I need to ask for your help, I'm worried...I had no way of really cleaning the...injuries and they might get infected, but there was nothing I could do myself." He shuffled a little closer to Abbie, searching for a little contact.

____________

"So I was right." Abbie nodded, then sighed. "I'm here to help, you know I am, what do you need me to do?" He pulled the blanket tighter, biting his lip. "I'll do anything, don't worry. How can I help?"

____________

 

"I can't heal them...not with magic, they need to be cleaned or they could get infected, especially the burns, antiseptic or rubbing alcohol, something like that, it'll hurt but it needs to be done." He's thankful for how well Abbie took that, and the offer of help was appreciated.

____________

Abbie nodded. He stood up with the blanket wrapped around him. "I'm pretty sure Leon has those somewhere." He walked to the kitchen; Leon was putting the shopping away.   
"Hey Lee, do you have any antiseptic or rubbing alcohol?"  
"Yeah hoe, here." He handed Abbie both, then winked and carried on putting the stuff away.  
Abbie sat back down on his bed and put the antiseptic and rubbing alcohol on the bed. "Take your shirt off then, please." He was pretty sure some of his own wounds had ripped opened with Abbie's movement, but he ignored it, this was about helping Matt, not him.

____________

Matt nodded and turned around, taking the shirt off then performing the spell that unveiled the state of his back. He knew it was ugly, he'd seen, it was black and blue and the burns were disgusting, his back was covered in scabs from the belt buckle, he didn't want to show Abbie, but he had to.

___________

He sighed sadly. He got some cotton wool from the bathroom and put rubbing alcohol on it. "This will hurt." He gently dabbed it on the least painful looking one, getting every little bit of it with the wool. Matt couldn't see him, so Abbie let the blanket fall off him, it was annoying to hold it up.

___________

He hissed at the pain, clenching and unclenching his fist in the sheets, Abbie worked systematically through them, it hurt but he felt better for knowing the wounds would be clean afterwards, the idea that they may get infected had been nagging at him.  
"Thank you, Abbie." It was a bit strained but he thinks he got his point across.

______________

He hummed. It took a while to finish, there were so many wounds, but eventually they finished. Abbie yawned and pulled the blanket back up to cover his torso. "There were are. You should feel a lot better now, Matt." He put all the used cotton wool in a bag and out everything else on the floor. "There's probably bandages in the kitchen, I completely forgot, I'm sorry." He stood up and walked into the kitchen to get them. He managed to find them and walked back to the bedroom holding them up happily. He sat back behind Matt and started wrapping them around his torso. He finished and traced feather light circles on Matt's neck with his fingers. "All done."

______________

"Thank you." He turned around and smiled at Abbie, throwing his arms over his shoulders leaning his forehead against Abbie's. "Thank you for helping me, and for being rational about the situation." He placed a chaste kiss on Abbie's lips.

______________

Abbie bit his lip. He was only wearing a sheet, and he could feel Matt's body against his own. He shuffled around, trying to get further away and not make it obvious he was getting turned on. He blushed. "It's okay, Matt. Don't worry about it."

______________

Matt glanced down as Abbie moved away, unfortunately (read fortunately) Abbie moving away had put his erection in clear sight. Matt blushed, then smirked as he got an idea. He kissed and nipped at his neck slowly moving down his chest.

______________

He gasped slightly, letting the sheet drop onto the bed. He looked away, trying not to make any noise. Abbie pressed his lips together, his hands in Matt's hair, tugging on it very gently. He closed his eyes.

______________

He went lower and lower, catching Abbie's eye and keeping eye contact. When he finally reached the place Abbie wanted him to touch he avoided it, giving attention to everywhere but there. Then the door opened.

___________

"Hey guys, did you two start - oh my sweet Jesus," Leon gasped, putting his hand in the doorframe to keep him from falling over. He gave them an exasperated look, and gestured towards their wounds. "You two are both injured beyond... Are you two teenagers? You don't have to do it all the time, you know. Eh, who am I to judge, enjoy yourself, and tell me next time so I can join in." He winked and left, closing the door.  
Abbie had jumped when the door opened, and was blushing like crazy at Leon walking in on them. He glanced down at Matt.

___________

Matt sighed.  
"He just ruined the mood, I liked the mood." Matt smirked. "He threw off my groove." He then proceeded to break down into hysterical laughter, it wasn't even that funny, he's probably just delirious from exhaustion or something.

___________

Abbie gave Matt a look. "Are you alright?" Matt was right, Leon had accidentally ruined the mood, but that didn't mean they couldn't get it back. Abbie reached out and stroked Matt's hair, waiting until he calmed down and stopped laughing. "Do you want to sleep? Or...?"

____________

"Sleep sounds good, let's do the sex thing tomorrow, okay?" After this he promptly feel asleep sprawled in Abbie's arms, so he didn't hear Abbie's answer.

__________

He sighed deeply, looking at Matt. Abbie tried to shuffle down so he could lay down, but didn't want to disturb Matt, so instead he leaned back against the wall and fell asleep.  
The next morning Ronnie woke up relatively early to Matty coming back from working the night shift. Matty said he hated leaving Ronnie alone without Abbie there, but he couldn't cancel work. He heard Matty putting the kettle on, so he went downstairs into the kitchen. Matty's back was to him, making himself a coffee.  
"Morning, Dad." Ronnie smiled, hugging him from behind.

___________

Liam was sat having breakfast with his mum, he planned to go see Ronnie later, even though they'd see each other tomorrow when they went back to school.  
"I'm dropping you off at twelve, right Liam?"  
"Yep, I can't wait to see Ronnie, it's been ages, well it's been a week but it's felt like an eternity." He'd seen his friends Richard and Callum on Wednesday and Thursday, they'd wanted to know about life at boarding school, unfortunately he couldn't tell them about all the magic, however he could tell them about all the new friends he'd made (with Ronnie's help). He hadn't been able to see Ronnie before now, but was looking forward to it.

_____________

"Morning, Ronnie, sweetheart," Matty mumbled sleepily, turning around and hugging him back. "Sleep well?"  
Ronnie pondered this. He hadn't, mainly because he was worried about Matty, but he didn't want to make Matty feel bad about leaving him alone. "Yeah. Are you going to sleep?"  
Matty finished making his coffee and blew it to cool it down. "I might nap before Liam gets here."  
Ronnie couldn't wait to see Liam. It felt like ages since they'd seen each other last. "Okay."  
Matty put his coffee down and looked at Ronnie, putting his hands on his shoulders. "Ronnie... Your dad told me that you haven't been speaking to him."  
Ronnie blinked. "Well, no, because-"  
"Because he kissed another man, I know, sweetheart. But he's your father. Please... Just talk to him," Matty rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Promise?"  
Ronnie nodded, and Matty walked into the living room with his coffee, leaving Ronnie to make himself breakfast.

_____________

They left for Ronnie's at 11:30, Liam pulling on his favourite jumper (which went way past his fingers) and a pair of skinny jeans. When they finally made it to the car Liam turned in the radio and they left.  
"I talked to Ronnie's dad, Matty, while we were waiting for you at the station, he seems very nice."   
"He is, are you going to stay and talk?"   
"I'd like to, but I don't want to impose."  
"Maybe he'd like the company?" They arrived soon after.

___________

Ronnie heard the car pull up and jumped up from his seat on the couch. He poked Matty.  
"Is Liam here?" He groaned, stretching. He flopped for a moment, seeming to weak to pull himself up, but then he smiled and sat up. "Come on, then."  
Ronnie bounced to the front door, impatiently waiting for Liam or his mum Heather to knock on it. Matty had gone into the kitchen and was boiling the kettle.

____________

Heather knocked on the door which was answered immediately by Ronnie.  
"Ronnie! How's your holiday been, have you had fun? I've had fun! And I missed hanging out with you, have you talked to Alanna?" Liam questioned excitedly, he was practically thrumming with energy.

___________

Ronnie smiled at him. "Yes! I've had fun, my holiday has been great, and Alanna came around yesterday!" He clapped happily.  
Matty poked his head out of the kitchen. "Let them in, then, you plonker! Heather, would you like to stay for a drink?" He asked.  
Ronnie stepped away from the door, smiling at Heather.

___________

"I'd love to, how have you been?" They both then disappeared into the kitchen.   
"I'm happy to see you again, it feels like it's been ages since we last saw each other, any interesting stories to tell me?" They went through to the living room and sat.

___________

Ronnie shook his head. "Not in the slightest. I've finished all of my homework, I told you Alanna came round yesterday," he shrugged. "Spending time with Dad has been fun. Abbie's coming home tonight to pack all his stuff for school, nothing interesting. How about you?" Ronnie smiled excitedly.

___________

"I saw my friends on Wednesday, I think you'd like them, but other than that I haven't done much, I've just been spending time with my mum, she missed me, I thinks she's a bit lonely." They played games using their magic for a while after their conversation, and then they played on a game where they had to shoot zombies for some reason for a while, then it was dinner.

_________ 

Matty had cooked a proper Sunday roast, and it smelled delicious. Heather was staying for dinner, which Matty seemed pleased about. Ronnie sat next to Liam and across from them was Heather and Matty.  
"Thanks, Dad." Ronnie smiled before eating.

__________

"Thank you, it's very nice." Liam took another bite and his mum complimented the dinner also. They were about halfway through, a steady stream of talk and eating had been kept up through dinner, when Matty produced a series of coughs, getting more and more severe, when he pulled his hand away from his mouth it was gleaming red with blood.

____________

Ronnie gasped, dropping his fork. "Dad? Dad, are you okay?!" He ran to Matty's side, grabbing a tissue from the middle of the table and wiping Matty's hand. He glanced up at Heather. "Could you... Call an ambulance or something?"  
"No, no," Matty gasped, hacking up some more blood. "I'm fine, don't." He put a hand up to stop Ronnie. "Stop panicking."

____________

"No, you're coughing up blood, that's bad, that's really really bad, it's serious when you cough up blood. There's probably something wrong with your lungs, we have to call an ambulance." As she said this she was fluttering about looking for her phone. Liam was watching on with wide eyes he'd read a medical book once, something he'd found while they were at the hospital, it was probably to advanced for him. But he recalls now things coughing up blood could mean an infection, cancer, problems in the blood vessels, any of which would not be good.

____________

Ronnie's eyes filled with tears as he patted Matty's back, Matty's whole body shaking as blood seeped through his fingers onto the table.  
"You're gonna... Have to call... Abbie..." Matty managed to gasp between hacks. Ronnie ran to the kitchen and grabbed Matty's phone dialling Abbie's numbers as he ran back into the dining room.  
Abbie picked up on the second ring. "Hey, Matty."  
"It's not..," Ronnie choked out. "It's Ronnie."  
"Ronnie? What's wrong?" He heard shuffling, Abbie was probably standing up.  
"It's Dad, he's... He's coughing up blood, Dad... Liam's mum's here, she's calling the ambulance, but..."  
"I'm coming, I'm coming." He heard a door slam, and quick footsteps against hard ground. "I'll be there in a minute."  
Ronnie hung up, and continued rubbing and patting Matty's back, tears dripping down his face as he looked up at Liam.

_____________

"The ambulance are on their way." Heather went over to Matty to help, soon after the door crashed open and Abbie appeared in the door way, he looked flushed and worried , in the distance they could hear the ambulance sirens wailing, signalling they were close.

____________

Abbie ran over to Matty, taking over Ronnie rubbing his back. Ronnie threw his arms around Abbie.  
The paramedics ran in, taking Matty, who still hadn't stopped coughing, into the ambulance. One looked at Abbie. "Are you coming with him?"  
Abbie blinked, wringing his hands together in worry. He glanced at Heather. "I'm awfully sorry, but can you watch Ronnie, please? I don't... I can't leave Matty."  
"No! Dad, please, I need to come with you."  
"No, no, Ronnie, just stay here, please. I'll leave my phone here, I'll call you from Matty's," he looked at Heather again. "Is that okay?"

____________

"It's fine, I'll look after the boys you go." Abbie nodded then rushed out with the paramedics everything was silent in the house as they heard the sirens fade into the distance.   
"Come on, sit down, you'll hear from him as soon as he can call." Heather hoped that wouldn't be long, Ronnie looked rather distraught and it wouldn't make it better if they took too long, he was sure to assume the worst.

____________

Ronnie sat down at the table obediently, but stood up again after staring at the blood droplets on the table. He picked up some tissues and started cleaning it up. Heather had said that coughing up blood was serious, which worried him. He wasn't very scientific, but knew enough that she wasn't lying. Could Matty die? The thought sent a wave of fear through Ronnie. He took a deep breath. "Can we go into the living room? We could put the TV on, or..." He shrugged.

____________

"Of course, would you like anything to drink?" Heather put the kettle on for herself, with extra water in case Ronnie or Liam wanted a drink. They all went and sat in the living room, it was silent for a few moments before Liam spoke up.  
"It might not be anything to serious, sometimes coughing up blood is only a symptom of something minor, it just looks alarming. It isn't something that would cause immediate harm, not unless he somehow broke a rib and punctured his lung, which I think is very unlikely, don't you?"

____________

"Well, yes, which means it could be serious." Ronnie bit his lip. He didn't want to seem spoilt or anything, he was just worried. Scared that Matty wouldn't get better. Terrified he would die. And then it would just be so wrong. It had always been the three of them. He knew Liam only had his mum, but his dad had died years ago from what he knew, so did Liam even know what it was like to have two parents? "When do you think Dad will call?" He found himself asking Heather, desperately wanting her to comfort him, to tell him it would be okay.

____________

"He'll call as soon as he can, it shouldn't be long, he'll probably call almost as soon as he gets there." It wasn't much longer after that the call came, they'd filled the time with pointless talk, Ronnie was very quiet through most of the time, but he rushed to pick up the phone when it started ringing.

______________

It was Abbie. "You should get over here, Ronnie. Matty wants to talk to you."


	9. Chapter 9

Heather agreed to drive Ronnie there, so the found themselves in the car, a tense silence had fallen that none of them dared to break, until they arrived and Ronnie was trying to get out before the car had even stopped. They saw Abbie waiting just inside the doors, he looked a mess, and was clearly inching to get back to Matty's side.

___________

Ronnie ran to Abbie and threw his arms around him. Abbie hugged him back tightly.  
"Dad, is he okay?" Ronnie asked, his face full of fear.  
Abbie looked at him. "He's... Alive," he chewed his lip. "Just... Let's go see him. Heather, Liam, do you want to stay, or go? Thank you Heather, so very much."

___________

"It's fine honestly, I'm glad I could help. We'll leave you guys to it, but would you please update me later? I'd like to know how he's doing it?" She stopped for a moment. "Do you have money for a taxi back? I can lend you some if you'd like." 

___________

Abbie checked his pockets and closed his eyes. He sighed. "I appreciate the offer, but I can call my friend to pick us up. Thank you anyway. Can I have your number?" He'd have to stay at home for the night, there's no way he could put Ronnie and Matt in the same house, unless he absolutely had to.

___________

"Okay." She got her phone out and gave her number to Abbie. "Tell Matty to get well soon from us." Then she left holding Liam close to her. In the car on the way back Liam looked troubled.  
"What's wrong sweetie?"   
"He'll be okay, right?"  
"Of course he will, he's in good hands now."  
"I don't know what I'd do if that happened to you, I couldn't lose you...not like dad."   
"I'm not going anywhere, you're stuck with me." 

______________

They walked through the hospital, traipsing down endless corridors until they finally got to Matty's room. Ronnie ran in. Matty was laid on the bed, his eyes closed. He had a needle through his arm and wires coming in and out of his body.  
"Dad?" Ronnie gently held Matty's hand. Matty opened his eyes and gave a weak smile.  
"Hey, Ronnie. Did Liam and Heather go home?"  
"Yes, just now. Dad... You scared me so much." He sniffed, tears dripping down his face. Matty lifted a hand and stroked Ronnie's hair.  
"I'll be fine," he coughed, covering his mouth. "Just make sure you still work hard at school."  
School. They were going back tomorrow, but surely they couldn't just leave Matty like this?  
"What? No, I can't go to school, not while you're..."  
"Ronnie," Matty said, as sternly as he could with his weak, quiet voice. "You'll go to school."

______________

"Ronnie and Mr d'Autrice have to go back to school tomorrow, do you think they will?" That troubled look hadn't left Liam's face, and it was heartbreaking for Heather.  
"I imagine they'll have to."  
"But who will be with Matty?"  
"They'll still make time to see him, they just won't be able to be there all the time. If Matty gets really lonely I could go visit him now and again, he's quite fun to talk to."  
"I think he'd like that, Ronnie probably would as well, knowing his dad's not alone all the time." 

____________

At half nine, when all the streets were dark and quiet, and Matty was in a drug-induced sleep, Abbie stood up from the end of Matty's bed.  
"Come on, Ronnie. I'll call Leon and we'll go home."  
Ronnie gave Matty one last sad look and kiss, and they left. On the way out of the hospital, Abbie called Leon. They didn't have have to wait long outside before Leon pulled up in his sleek black car. The drive home was quiet, Leon and Abbie occasionally muttering to each other. When they arrived, Leon gave Ronnie an encouraging smile and hug, before leaving.

____________

That night sleep eluded Liam for a long time, his head filled with thoughts of what had happened to Matty, and then when he fell asleep he had nightmares about the same things happening to his mum, to which he woke up in a cold sweat. Once he had calmed down he came downstairs to find his mum making pancakes.

____________

Ronnie hadn't been able to sleep, so he'd ending up crawling into Matty's bed with Abbie. They'd fallen asleep hugging each other.  
Ronnie woke up alone. He hadn't got much sleep, and he was pretty sure Abbie hadn't got any sleep at all. He walked into the kitchen to find Abbie leaning over the sink throwing up.  
"Dad? You're not ill as well, are you?" He ran to him hugging him tightly.  
"No, no, I'm just worried about stuff. Don't worry. Do you want toast?"  
"Yes, please."   
They ate breakfast in silence. Abbie had brought their bags down and they were at the door. Abbie tidied up and switched everything off, and they set of for the train.

_____________

The station was crowded as always, parents hugging their children and waving them off. Liam looked for Ronnie and Abbie among the crowd and found them quickly. They looked tired and slightly ruffled, clearly no one had gotten a good nights sleep last night.

__________

Ronnie smiled at Liam and Abbie nodded. Abbie sat in his own compartment on the train and Ronnie sat with Liam, Alanna, Maeka, and Megara (who were all glad to see each other. Maeka even recited lines from Romeo and Juliet to Megara.)

__________

Matt found Abbie in a compartment and knocked before opening.  
"Room for another? How is he? You seemed really worried last night."

__________

"Of course there's room, it's an empty compartment," Abbie muttered, before blinking. "I'm sorry. Come in, if you want. I'm sorry for leaving last night." He looked out of the window. "Matty's..," his voice wavered, so he took a shaky breath, calming himself down. "Matty's alive."

__________

"In that case things could certainly be worse." He sat close to Abbie. "How are you feeling?" He'd left in a panic last night, shouting a few barely comprehensible words before disappearing out the door.

_________

"I'm fantastic. How are you?" He watched the view out the window whiz by. Abbie didn't want to seem rude, but he was tired and worried and he had a headache.

____________

"I'm fine, did you even sleep? It doesn't look like it." They were relatively silent for the rest of the journey, watching the land go by and eventually the sky darkening, until they finally arrived at the station. Transport was waiting to take them to the castle.

____________

Students were chatting with their friends, teachers were quieter, trying to get the students to the castle.  
The journey to the castle was quiet as well. They were sat at the dinner table. Students were impatient to eat the delicious food that was provided.

____________

The headmistress stood to make her speech smiling down at the students.  
"Welcome back, I hope you have all enjoyed your time off, I also hope none of you have forgotten what I said at the end of last term. I will not hold you up for long, I wish only to say that I hope you all enjoy yourselves this term." The hall erupted with applause for a few moments.

___________

The headmistress sat down, and people tucked in. Ronnie and Abbie, however, poked at their meal, not wanting to eat. How could they, when Matty was ill in hospital? It seemed unfair that they could enjoy themselves while Matty was stuck in a hospital bed.

___________

Dinner passed quickly and soon enough everyone was going back to their common rooms to get settled in, Liam said goodbye to Ronnie and Matt went back with Abbie, though he wasn't sure if that was a good idea considering Abbie had seemed off all night.

___________

Abbie slowly walked to the dorms, aware of Matt next to him. He unlocked his own dorm, seeing his bags dropped off besides the couch. He left the door open, an offer to Matt, and sat on the couch, looking around the bare rooms. He'd spent most of his spare time at Matt's dorm, so he never got around to making his own rooms seem more homely.

___________

Matt walked in timidly, Abbie left the door open for him but he wasn't sure Abbie really wanted company, it seemed he might want to be alone. He went to the kitchen and made them both coffee, then sat next to Abbie.

___________

He took the coffee gratefully, sipping it. He looked at the carpet.  
"So. How are things?" Matt didn't seem comfortable here, but he was torn between asking him to leave so he could be alone or letting him stay and enjoying the company.

___________

"Good, I've been around you most of the time not much time for things to go wrong." They went silent again, sipping their coffee. Matt was getting drowsy. "I need to go to sleep, I can go to my room if you'd like."

___________

"If you want." Abbie finished his coffee and put the empty mug on the table. He sighed and rubbed his temple. He hadn't slept last night, and he'd just drank coffee, so he wasn't going to sleep early tonight, if at all. He turned and looked at Matt. "Are you okay?"

___________

"Fine." The truth was he hadn't slept all that well without Abbie there, the nightmares had come back last night so he'd woken up early and feeling like he hadn't really rested at all.

___________

Abbie was silent for a minute, and then stood up. "But... You don't have to, if you don't want to." Maybe he'd sleep if Matt was there, even if he didn't, it'd be better than sleeping alone.

___________

"I don't want to." He stepped closer to Abbie, placing his hands on Abbie's hips, he embraced him loosely.

___________

He sighed, resting his head on Matt's shoulder. He opened his mouth, then bit his lip. Should he tell Matt? Probably. "Matty was coughing up blood, and he's in hospital, and the doctors don't know what's wrong, and I...," Abbie's voice faltered. "I don't know what to do." He clutched Matt tightly, burying his face into Matt's neck.

___________

Matt held him tight, rubbing his back comfortingly. He didn't know what to say, he hadn't had to comfort someone like this before, when they honestly didn't know what the outcome would be, when it could go either way.

__________

Abbie rubbed Matt's back too, barely touching it in case he hurt him and reopened his wounds. "Oh, is your back alright yet? Or does it still hurt? Do the bandages need changing?" 

__________

"I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me, I'm used to it." Matt walked them to the sofa so they were cuddling with Matt laying on top of Abbie, head resting on his chest.

___________

"Alright..." Abbie said. He was really tired, and he gently ran his hands through Matt's hair, slowly falling into a deep sleep.

___________

Matt looked down at Abbie with a fond smile on his face, feeling himself drift off also. He knew he'd pay for it in the morning, his back was not going to enjoy this but he didn't have the heart to disturb Abbie. The steady beat of Abbie's heart and the heavy pressure on his head lulled him into sleep.

_________

Abbie woke up with a sore neck from sleeping on the couch in an uncomfortable position, but he had had a good nights sleep and was feeling much more refreshed. He kissed Matt's hair, not wanting to wake him up but knowing he needed to wake up for lessons.  
"Matt?"

__________

"Noooo" Matt mumbled, he tightened his hold in Abbie's shirt, snuggling closer and burying his head in the crook of Abbie's neck. "Don' wanna." 

________

"Oh, come on Matt. I need a coffee. I'll make you one if you let me go." Abbie really, really didn't want to get up, but he had lessons to teach and so did Matt. He wrapped his legs around Matt, one hand on Matt's neck and the other in Matt's hair. "Please?" He whispered in his ear.

________

Slowly he untangled himself from Abbie, moving just enough so Abbie could move.  
"Coffee..." his statement was followed with a incomprehensible groan.

________

He smiled slightly, and quickly made himself and Matt a coffee. He placed them on the table in front of the couch and yawned. "I feel all...ew. I'm taking a shower." Abbie paused. "Wanna join me?"

________

Like a man rising from the grave Matt pulled himself up in search of coffee, taking a few scalding sips to wake himself up.  
"I'd love to, but I want to be on time for breakfast, scratch that I actually want to go to breakfast. A shower with you is therefore counterproductive."

__________

Abbie pouted. "Later, then?" He picked up his coffee and took a few sips and put it back down. He pulled off his shirt and threw it into the laundry basket. "Or now? It's only a shower, it won't be long..."

__________

"You said that last time, have you forgotten how long that class had to wait? Hey what's that?" Around Abbie's neck hung a silver necklace, he couldn't tell what the pendant was from this distance.

________

"Oh, uh... this. It's just... something I remembered I had. It was my mother's, and she gave it me before the fire. I don't know, I just thought I should wear it." He shrugged. "Well, anyway, they didn't have to wait that long but fine. How about after lessons then?" Abbie walked into the bathroom and started to run the shower. He touched the necklace, not wanting to take it off for the shower.

________

"After we've finished marking, I'm sure I'll be too exhausted to do it afterwards, right Abbie?" He gave him a coy smile, feeling a lot more awake now he had had his coffee.

________

Abbie rolled his eyes and smiled, but didn't comment. He proceeded to have a quick shower and got changed into his school robes. They still had five minutes or so before breakfast. Abbie drank his coffee quickly. "Matt, why don't we head down to breakfast early?"

________

Matt had finished getting ready when Abbie asked and they proceeded down to the hall together. There weren't many people yet, a handful of students for each table and a few teachers. Sat next to the headmistress was a man neither of them had met yet.  
"There hadn't been a notice about a new teacher had there?"

__________

"Not as far as I'm aware." Abbie replied, observing the other man. He frowned, then smirked. "Look at that hair though. Someone came from a well-off family." He tapped the table with his left hand.

__________

"And the posture, ramrod straight back, screams high birth." Neither of them could say very much, considering where they came from, but they were different now. Maybe Matt not so much, but he was getting better the longer he lived away from that place.

__________

Abbie giggled quietly. "I bet his voice is super posh. Like a royal, someone important. See the way he's holding his fork? Left handed. Raised in a good family, most likely his upbringing was perfect." He picked up his own fork, mocking the man.

__________

"Imagine how he'd react if someone swore at him, or a food fight started like it did that time at dinner, he'd be so affronted, the look on his face would be hilarious, pure outrage." He laughed with Abbie, taking a sip of his drink.

__________

 

He smiled, just as the owls screeched for breakfast. Students and teachers filed in, some excited to be with their friends after the holiday, some still half asleep. Everyone sat down, some eyeing the stranger on the teacher table. Before everyone started eating, the headmistress stood up to speak, and the hall was silent.

____________

"I won't repeat my welcome of last night, however I wish you all a pleasant first day back, some of you may have noticed the man at my side, Aaron Dayton, students you will refer to him as Mr Dayton, he is here to visit the school, and you may see him in your lessons, please enjoy your breakfast." She took her seat again to the applaud of the school.

 

_________

Abbie suppressed a giggle, and said in a posh voice: "Oh, Aaron, dear, would you mind making one a scone? One is simply starving." Something about Aaron seemed mildly familiar to Abbie, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe he'd seen him before out of school.

_________

Matt replied in an equally posh voice "not at all darling, how about some tea? Would that be one lump or two?" He picked his cup up daintily with his pinky out, taking a small sip.

_________

He laughed, and said in his normal voice. "Are we assuming Mr Aaron Dayton is British? And a stereotypical British citizen at that? How awful of us. I feel simply terrible." Abbie took a small bite of his toast, glancing at Aaron, trying to place where he'd seen him before.

_________

"Truly terrible, how dare we do such an atrocious act." He took a bite of his breakfast "I will say though, and I'm really sorry Abbie, but despite everything, he's cute."

_________

Abbie gasped slightly, dropping his toast onto his plate. "Is that what you look for in a man?" He looked at Aaron, scowling. "Is that why you wouldn't shower with me this morning? You have your heart set on someone else? How rude. My own heart is broken now. How will I ever be good enough for you?" His words were playful, but mentally he was worrying if there was something about Aaron that Abbie was not. He would change for Matt, no hesitation. 

_________

"You're already perfect sweetie, wouldn't change you for anything in the world. My heart is all yours, but even that won't stop me from being able to admire the cuteness of others, like that specimen over there." He smiled at Abbie, shooting a glance at Aaron Dayton and the elegant way in which he seemed to move.

__________

He smiled happily, satisfied, and follow Matt's gaze to Aaron. Everything about him seemed to shriek "posh" at them, from his posture to his smile. It was odd. "My dear, I would love some proof of how much your heart belongs to me. Otherwise, I may think you're getting too distracted looking at that good looking creature over there."  
___________

"I thought we already agreed to wait till later to do that, unless you want a little something extra. If you want real romance I could get you chocolates, I can think of a few interesting, not quite conventional, ways of eating them." He leaned in closer to Abbie, whispering into his ear "like off my body perhaps." He spared one last fleeting glance at Mr Dayton before turning back to Abbie, only having eyes for him.

__________

Abbie swallowed, looking at his breakfast, blushing slightly. "Ah... that would be lovely. Unfortunately for me, I wish I didn't have to wait that long. I want proof... now," he sighed, and looked back at Matt, smiling. "But I'll wait, for you, my love."

__________

"So sweet, it shouldn't be long now dear, only a few more hours, do you think you can wait that long, my love?" A few people were starting to leave, Matt observed, including Mr Dayton who was being escorted by the headmistress, lessons would be starting soon.

__________

He licked his lips, looking Matt up and down. "I... suppose I have to, my darling. I... eagerly await your proof." Abbie took one more bite of his toast and stood up, unwilling to go to lessons.

__________

Matt finished his breakfast and stood to say goodbye to Abbie they had lessons in opposite ends of the castle.   
"I'm sure you do, I'll have everything prepared, just for you, see you then." He winked at him before walking away.

__________

Abbie blinked, wanting more than anything to go to the dorms right now and be with Matt. He shook his head, trying to get rid of his dirty thoughts. However, he had students to teach, so he grudgingly made his way to his first lesson.

__________

Later on they met each other outside the teachers lounge, a day of lessons finished.   
"I'd say only two hours left until I can show you, do you think you can do it?"

__________

"I suppose I have to, don't I? But can I have something to get me by? Perhaps... A kiss, my sweet?" Abbie asked, taking a step closer to Matt and leaning forwards.

__________

Matt turned his head at the last minute, so Abbie kissed his cheek instead.  
"Will that be enough, dear? It's going to have to be." He noticed the downtrodden look on Abbie's faced and smiled at him before settling down on their favourite sofa to start marking. An hour and a half later they were alone.

__________  
Abbie and Matt were sat together alone in the teachers lounge on a particularly comfy couch. They were both marking as they sat in serene silence, with only the quiet sound of pen touching paper keeping it from total quiet.  
"I've seen Aaron Dayton around school, and he seems really familiar, but I can't figure out where I've seen him. Has he came into any of your lessons?" Abbie asked, stopping his marking for a second to hold Matt's hand gently.

_____________

"He didn't, do you think you might've seen him around the school before?" Matt squeezed Abbie's hand, then got back to marking, this was the book of a student who was particularly difficult, and that came through in his work. That wasn't even going in to the handwriting, how did it even get that bad? He ran a hand through his hair so it sticked up in all directions.

__________

"Hmm. I don't think so. There's just something... like I've seen him ages ago, like passing a person in the streets or something..." Abbie finished with his last book and dropped in on top of the others, stretching. "I'm done. I'm going to get some coffee, do you want a tea?" He stood up, kissed Matt's cheek gently and left, not waiting for an answer.

___________

The room was eerily silent without Abbie, only Matt's pen on the paper. Candle light flickered in the room. One final red circle around a horridly misspelled word and he was finished with this book, he only had one pile of books left to mark. Leaning back on the couch with his eyes closed, Matt didn't notice the door opening or the person who walked in.

_________

It was silent for a second more, the person's shadow looming over Matt in the gentle, soft flickering light that the candle gave off. The room was empty, except for the person and Matt, which was perfect. No one would see. The figure smiled, even though no one saw it, and said quietly: "Found you."

_____________

He was up and facing the intruder before he had even finished speaking. Backing away slowly he rose his hands to try and placate the intruder.   
"What are you doing? You're Mr Dayton, the visitor? Why are you in here?" He kept his guard up, there was no doubt in his mind that the man was dangerous.

___________

"I was ordered to kill you. I need to. For the light side, you filthy Night!" Mr Dayton held his hands together for a brief moment, as if praying and then lunged forwards, pulling a long white dagger out of his sleeve and holding it above his head, ready to bring it down on Matt.

____________

It was a split second decision, it might not work but if it didn't he stood next to no chance against this clearly highly trained individual. He reached out a hand to touch him and from one instant to another he found himself opening his eyes to the ceiling, tears welling in his eyes and the start of a migraine that would have him bedridden blooming in his head. Not entirely aware of himself he crawled to the corner and curled into a ball.

__________

The man collapsed on the floor, unaware of where he was. He picked up one of the books that Abbie had marked, and shook it. He looked at Matt in the corner innocently. "Is this yours?"  
At that moment, Abbie walked in with two steaming mugs, sipping from one of them. He choked slightly when he saw the visitor on the floor and Matt in the corner. He put the mugs on the table and ran to Matt.  
"Are you okay?"

___________

He backed into the wall a little further as the voices pounded in his head, he spoke in little more than a whisper.  
"Fine, help Allen he'll be confused." he weakly held his hand out to take the tea.

__________

"All...en? Allen?" Abbie turned quickly to look at the man on the floor, who was looking through the book he'd picked up, but he caught Abbie's gaze and smiled at him. Abbie realised why he'd seemed so familiar. Those cheekbones, that smile, the way he held himself... of course. The alias... it was obvious that Allen couldn't tell people who he really was. Abbie's childhood flashed before his eyes, the picnics with Allen, the nights they spent together after Abbie had been hit. Abbie crawled over to Allen and looked at him closer, leaning in and staring at him in the eyes, looking for something, perhaps a spark of recognition or anything to tell Abbie the truth. Abbie frowned.  
"Allen? It's me... Abreice." He reached out to Allen, and held his hand like they did when they were younger, but... nothing. What had happened? "Um... Matt?" He turned his head towards Matt.

___________

"Tried to kill me. Took his memories." He took a sip of the hot tea and tried to ignore the horrible migraine and the look Abbie was giving him, he didn't look particularly happy about Matt taking Allen's memories, but nobody liked it when he did that, maybe Abbie would hate it enough to break up with him, Matt wouldn't blame him, what kind of decent person takes others memories from them, especially knowing they'd be able to see all of them? That leads him into thinking of the things he'd seen, something he'd been avoiding based on the horrifying childhood he'd seen and then the fact Allen worked for the light side, against his own brother. Maybe it wasn't even Allen, maybe it was an imposter, it wasn't entirely impossible, and it was certainly preferable. He took another sip of the tea.

__________

"What? Okay... why would he? And give them him back!" Abbie blinked in shock, tears welling up in his eyes. He had thought Allen was dead, and had blamed himself for it all. But here he was, sat in front of him after over a decade but didn't recognise him. "Matt! Do you realise how important this is? I thought he was dead! But he's not! Give him his memories back!" He still couldn't quite believe it. It just wasn't clicking... but Abbie was accepting it. He just wanted his brother back, which he did, but he wanted him to recognise him. He wanted to be his older sister again. Abbie could still see the similarities between them... the cheekbones, the smile, and Abbie believed that if Allen took out his contacts or stopped the spell that changed his eye colour they'd be the exact same shade of light purple. He just needed the memories back... that would be more than enough. He had a lot of questions.

____________

"He could attack again. Not safe." Did they need to have this conversation now? Matt's head was hurting so much he wanted nothing more than to curl up in a dark room and sleep for the rest of the year. 

_________

"Well then, let's get him to our dorm and tie him up or something. I'm sure he won't attack when I tell him I'm his sister. Brother," Abbie frowned, correcting himself. "So let's do it. Help me take him back to our dorm." Abbie smiled, excited at the thought of being able to see and speak to his brother again, which had seemed impossible for so many years.

__________

Matt downed the last of the tea and gently placed it on the floor, he grasped the wall to stand up.  
"This is a terrible idea, but let's get this over with." He stumbled to where Abbie and Allen were standing.

_________

Abbie eyed Matt, deeming him too weak to help get him to stand up and hauling Allen up on his own. "Come on, let's get you some tea, yes? Or coffee?"  
Allen smiled, gripping onto Abbie's hand. "Coffee, please."  
Abbie smiled back, the exact same smile and started walking towards the dorms, checking back every so often on Matt behind them.

__________

Matt kept a wary eye on Allen, he didn't trust him, and would continue not to trust him until given a reason he could. In his opinion they couldn't reach the dorms fast enough, and based on Abbie's jumping he shared that opinion, though probably for vastly different reasons, Matt just wanted to sleep. 

_________

Once they'd arrived at the dorms, Abbie sat Allen down on the couch and fetch some rope from the cupboard. He really didn't think they needed to tie Allen up, it was completely unnecessary and would be a waste of time but if it made Matt feel better, he would do it.

_________

Matt waited for Allen to be tied up, staying at a distance until he was. Giving memories back, just like when taking them, only took a moment, though it had a very different affect. Matt felt slightly better, it took the edge off of his migraine, like painkillers only instant.  
"Go wild."  
Matt sat in the armchair furthest from Abbie and Allen, curling up and closing his eyes.

_________

 

Abbie smiled at Allen, who groaned and blinked, focussing on Abbie.  
"Allen..." Abbie whispered, placing a hand either side of his face.  
"What... who..?"  
"Allen... it's me, Abbie. I'm alive." The tears that had been threatening to spill had finally dropped down his face.  
Allen blinked, not clicking, then gasped. "Abbie? What? You're alive?"  
"Yes. And so are you." Abbie threw his arms around Allen and sniffed, trying to stop himself from crying.

___________

Matt sunk further and further into the chair, trying in vain to make himself not there, he could leave now, but that would be awkward and would require movement, something he's not entirely sure he's capable of right now.

__________

Allen smiled at Abbie, hugging him the best he could whilst still tied up. Then he opened his eyes and looked at Abbie.  
"Could I... have a moment with Matt over there? It won't take long." Allen looked at Abbie.  
"Um," Abbie glanced at Matt, mentally freaking out. Allen had tried to kill Matt, and obviously he had a reason to. Perhaps he knows Abbie worked for the dark side, and he'll tell Matt and they'd turn him in. What would Ronnie do, or Matty or even Evie if they found out he worked for the dark side? Poor Evie would turn in her grave, and Ronnie would have to live his life knowing his father was on the dark side. Abbie would be sentenced to death, or maybe put in the highest security prison for witches and wizards and tortured until he told them where the other dark members were. Ignoring this, he stood up, trying to stop shaking and left, hoping the two of the people he cared for most wouldn't turn on him.

____________

He tuned in at the mention of his name, tentatively lifting his head to see Abbie leaving. A moment of panic overcame him before ensuring himself that the ropes would probably hold Allen.  
"Do I have to go over there? Because I'm not entirely sure I can, but I could try." 

____________

Abbie sat down on the bed, closing his eyes and running a hand through his hair. It was kind of stupid, in Abbie's opinion, that someone who worked for such a strong organisation that relied on pure, brute strength and cunning, he had such a weak mind and was so mentally unstable he often had panic attacks whenever someone drew the curtains. He half turned towards the door, wondering if they were already planning on how best to capture him and force him to tell them what they wanted to know.

____________

"Come over here?" Allen wore a sadistic smile, a smile that threatened pain. Walking over was difficult but was undoubtedly easier than facing whatever Allen had planned if he didn't. They sat across from each other for a long time in silence, Matt uncomfortable under Allen's glare, when Allen finally did speak, he was menacing.  
"Don't you dare hurt my sister."   
Matt was frozen for a moment, not having expected that, before nodding shakily. The silence persisted for a few seconds more, then Matt hurriedly walked away, straight into Abbie's arms.  
"Your brother is terrifying."

___________

"Oh, Matt, Matt..." Abbie whispered, hugging him tightly. He buried his head in Matt's shoulder, wrapping his arms and legs around him. "Promise me something." He wondered what Allen had said to Matt that would make him say that. He wouldn't have known that Allen was scary, but he was glad Matt was still here with him, at least. "Promise you won't ever leave me. Never. Promise." 

_____________

"Promise, promise, I promise I'll stay with you, of course I will." He held Abbie closer, listening to his heartbeat in his chest. His exhaustion was really getting to him and the steady beat of Abbie's heart had the added bonus of lulling him to sleep, away from the migraine and troubles.

___________

"Matt..." Abbie murmured, but he was too far gone. He picked Matt up and gently placed him in the bed, then walked into the main room.  
"He's asleep?"  
"Yes." Abbie smiled, untying Allen. He stood up and Allen followed him, walking to the dorm room Allen had been assigned.  
"I'll see you tomorrow?"  
"Of course. I still can't believe you're alive..." Abbie said, hugging Allen goodbye.  
"Me neither," Allen smiled. "I missed you so much. Good night, big sister." Allen kissed Abbie's cheek, gave him one last soft hug then went inside his dorm.  
Abbie walked back to his dorm. He stripped off, only leaving his underwear on because he was too warm to wear anything else. He crawled into bed next to Matt, curled himself around him and promptly fell asleep comfortably.

_____________

The nightmares were different. He was used to the same old thing, his dad, his mum, Joseph, most recently Abbie. These weren't his nightmares, these were new. The nightmare, the worst he'd had in a while, was of Abbie and Allen's childhood, something he'd known very little of before he'd taken Allen's memories. The nightmare stayed with him all the way to wakefulness as he woke gasping and clutching onto Abbie who was curled around him.

___________

Abbie awoke groggily to Matt holding on to him. "Matt?" Abbie rubbed his eyes, wrapping his arms around Matt, still half asleep. "Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare? It's okay, I'm here. Don't worry." He hugged Matt tighter, trying to wake himself up a bit, so he focused on Matt's face and the look on it. He couldn't fall back asleep if Matt was like that.

____________

He took deep breaths, and relaxed his hold on Abbie.  
"I'm okay, I'm fine, what time is it?" He still sounded a little breathless but it could be ignored. He smiled faintly for Abbie to try and ensure him that he was okay.

__________

"It's six in the morning." Abbie said, stretching. He kissed Matt's hand and placed it on his cheek, pressing his face into it, and gave a small smile. "Thank you so much for yesterday. I'm so grateful. If you want me to do anything, I will. I owe you." He kissed Matt's hand again, content with it simply resting on his cheek.

_________

"I didn't do anything, you don't owe me anything. However I wouldn't object..." Matt started by placing feather light kisses along Abbie's jaw, then down his neck, along his collarbones, leaving red marks as a trail, between his pecks and down to his naval, stealthily slipping under the covers and pulling Abbie's underwear down to expose his penis, blowing air across it.

_________

Abbie groaned, his breathing quickened. He tugged at Matt's hair, whimpering. "Stop being a tease, Matt..." he tilted his head back slightly and moaned at Matt's actions, his arousal heightening, blushing a little and attempting but failing to get Matt closer to him. He suspected Matt had something to do with that.

__________

He wanted Matt to stop teasing? Then that is exactly what he'll do. He took him to the hilt, no easy task as he fought down his gag reflex, but from Abbie's reaction it was worth it. The tightening of Abbie's hands in his hair, and the way he arched his back all made the slight discomfort worth it. Then the door opened.

__________

Allen stood at the doorway, frozen. "Oh, sorry. Did I interrupt something?"  
Abbie gasped and blushed, embarrassed. "Allen... you couldn't have waited ten more minutes, could you?"  
"Nope." Allen leaned against the doorframe, no intention of leaving.  
"And I suppose you can't wait ten minutes now?"  
"No."  
Abbie tried to use this conversation to get rid of his embarrassment but it didn't work. He'd felt Matt tense under the covers and could only imagine what Matt was feeling.

___________

Matt slowly pulled away from Abbie, cringing at the feeling of Abbie leaving his mouth. He backed away till he was at the edge of the bed before promptly falling out with a thud. However the embarrassment of the situation was unfortunately far greater than the pain of falling out of the bed.

_________

Abbie let out a quiet whimper as Matt moved away but smiled when he fell off the bed.  
"Give us five minutes to get dressed, then."  
"Five minutes. I'm counting." Allen left, looking at the watch on his wrist.  
"Matt?" Abbie looked at him, silently pleading. He was still aroused and didn't want to take care of his problem himself.

__________

Matt pouted, but crawled back into bed anyway.  
"Make it quick. We need to get dressed as well." Matt then proceeded to give the fastest most vigorous blowjob he'd ever given. Leaving them with two minutes to get ready. In five minutes they were both ready and at the door.  
"Good job. Now I'm gonna go brush my teeth."

_________

Abbie was still recovering from the post coital aftermath, so he nodded faintly. He walked into the main room and saw Allen setting plates filled with eggs, bacon, toast and sausages on the table. When he heard Abbie enter, he turned and gave him a sly smile.  
"Have fun?"  
Abbie gave a little nod, then looked at the food. "I thought Papa thought men shouldn't cook."  
"Well, Papa isn't here." Allen smiled, opening his arms for a hug which Abbie slid into.  
"Is he...dead?"  
"Oh, heavens no. He's still alive."  
Abbie didn't know what he wanted more - his father being alive or dead. "So... has he changed?"  
"Not really," Allen said, swaying from side to side. "I mean, the house burning down was a massive shock to him. He didn't leave his study for days, and I didn't know whether it was because he was sad or not. After that, and the discovery of two burnt bodies, one identified as Mama, Papa took us into hiding. He still had all his money, but I think he was ashamed of what had happened. I still... the other body had Mama's DNA, so everyone guessed it was you, but clearly... who was the other body? And why did you think it was me who died?"  
"Well," Abbie rested his head on Allen's shoulder. "I knew it wasn't me who had died, so the only other person I could think of it being was you. It just made sense. But people thought I was dead, and no one was looking for me, so I used that to my advantage and moved to England. I met a girl and had a child-"  
"You had a baby?" Allen's smile was dazzling.  
"Yes. He's a first year here."  
"That's amazing... my nephew."  
Abbie smiled. "I'm sure you'll get along nicely."  
"And this girl you met?"  
"She... died giving birth to Ronnie."  
"Oh, you poor soul. My poor big sister." Allen hugged Abbie tightly, then let him go. "Where's Matt?"

_____________

"Here, good morning." He didn't fully trust Allen yet, it's difficult to trust people who try to kill you, but he was trying to for Abbie's sake. He took a seat at the table with Abbie and Allen, sitting straight like he did whenever he sat down for a meal with his father.

________

Allen muttered a quiet prayer before tucking into the meal.  
Abbie took a bite. "Oh, wow! This is amazing, it's better than what I could make."  
Allen smiled, pleased. "Remember that time we went on the picnic to the beach and the maid Elizabeth made those delicious egg sandwiches? That was the day the tide had been in overnight and there were loads of shells and stuff on the shore."

_________

Matt hated that feeling, the feeling of being able to remember something he was never a part of, remembering them collecting seashells, Abbie getting dirt on her dress, her father beating her. Matt looked down at his breakfast, pushing the food around the plate. How many of their memories were tainted with darkness?

__________

Abbie smiled, but then looked at Allen. He was looking back at him, silently remembering that night.  
"When did you stop wearing dresses?"  
"When I moved to England and could afford new clothes. When did you learn to cook?"  
"When Papa started leaving me on my own."  
They continued to eat. Allen smiled. "I liked it when you made me flower crowns. We'd always find them around the house, and I'd get Mama to enchant them so they could last longer. Can you still make them?"  
"Naturally," Abbie smiled. "I'll make you another one if you want."  
"I'd love that. Do you remember when you told me you liked white roses the best so I got Papa to get the gardener to plant loads?"  
"I do. I remember using white, red and pink roses to make you a crown and you said it made you feel like a king?"  
"Yes! And the time we went to the village together and Papa gave me money so I bought you a white rose."  
Abbie smiled, reminiscing happily. He'd never forgotten these times. It seemed so surreal, he was sitting having breakfast with his brother again. "Oh, and that time you'd gotten sea water all over yourself, and you-"

______________

"-ran to everyone and gave them hugs, so they'd all be as wet as you." Matt hadn't caught himself till it was too late, he felt his face heat up with embarrassment. He hadn't done this since he was young and first starting to learn how to use his powers, he had a way of distinguishing which were his and which weren't for this very reason. He kept his mouth shut so nothing more could escape him.

_________

Allen smiled, but Abbie looked up and stared at at Matt, his mouth open. "How did you... can you remember Allen's memories?"  
"It would seem so, big sister." Allen said, eating some toast.  
"So you can remember what happened the day I cut my hair and threw my dresses out of the window?"

__________

"You were locked in the basement for a few weeks, after that you weren't allowed to share a room anymore." He refused to make eye contact, he knows how weird it is he can do this, he's been told enough times. "When I gave them back it kind of...duplicates them I suppose, so we both have copies." 

__________

Abbie blinked in shock. He didn't doubt Matt's ability to do this but he found it interesting. "That's so cool. And... hmm... how about this scar?" Abbie held out his arm to Matt to show him the scar that ran from the middle of his palm down his forearm. "Where did I get it from?"

___________

"You stole food, your father caught you and threw a bowl at the wall next to you and then you had to clean it up, the scar came from you cutting yourself with one of the shards when you were trying to pick it up." Matt sighed heavily. "And it isn't 'cool'." he put some food in his mouth and chewed absently.

_________

"Well shit it's better than mine." Abbie said.  
Allen snorted. "Language."  
Abbie rolled his eyes. "Fuck you."  
Allen stared at him, playfully scowling. "Speaking of which, big sister, what is your power?"  
"Oh, it's... shadows. Darkness. I can control shadows and darkness. That's it. Yours?"  
"I can manipulate emotions for a period of time. I can also sense the emotions people feel for each other." Allen looked at Matt, then Abbie. The emotions he felt radiating from them were soft, warm and yet tinted with uncertainty. He frowned a little, hoping that them being unsure wouldn't hurt Abbie.


End file.
